The  Candidate  and  the 

Candidate  Department  of  a 

Foreign  Mission  Board 


Price  Fifty  Cents 


Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel 
25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York 


The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of 
North  America 


The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  maintains  on  the  19th  floor  of  25 
Madison  Avenue,  New  York  City,  interdenominational  missionary 
headquarters  for  the  foreign  mission  boards  and  societies  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada  and  their  constituencies.  Here  the  fol- 
lowing agencies  of  the  Conference  have  their  ofiBces: 

Gomtnittee  of  Reference  and  Counsel 

The  Constitution  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  provides  that 

"The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  shall  act  for  the  Conference  in  the  oversight  of  the 
executive  officers,  in  maintaining  suitable  headquarters,  in  arranging  for  the  annual  meeting, 
in  coordinating  the  work  of  the  various  committees,  boards  and  commissions  of  the  Conference, 
and  in  the  consideration  of  poUcies  and  measures  relating  to  foreign  missionary  interests  both 
at  the  home  base  and  on  the  foreign  field,  in  so  far  as  these  have  not  been  sx>ecially  committed 
to  some  other  committee.  The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  shall  also  act  for  the 
Conference  ad  interim  in  all  matters  calling  for  executive  action,  in  so  far  as  definite  authority 
and  power  may  not  have  been  committed  to  other  regular  or  special  committees." 

An  account  of  the  varied  activities  of  this  Committee  and  of  its 
sub-committees  during  the  year  1918  will  be  found  in  the  Report  of 
the  Foreign  Missions  Conference. 

Communications  for  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  may 
be  addressed  to  the  Secretary,  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel, 
25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 


Bureau  of  Missionary  Statistics  and  Research 

compiles  and  publishes  each  year  statistics  of  foreign  missions  and  a 
Directory  of  foreign  mission  boards  and  societies.  Studies  and  inves- 
tigations of  value  to  missionary  administrators,  speakers  and  writers 
are  constantly  being  made. 

Requests  for  information  received  from  secretaries  of  boards,  pro- 
fessors of  colleges  and  theological  seminaries,  missionaries  and  other 
investigators  will  be  attended  to  as  promptly  as  possible.  Whenever 
such  requests  involve  prolonged  research  which  the  stafi  of  the  Bureau 
cannot  undertake,  the  Director,  if  requested  to  do  so,  will  secure 
helpers  competent  to  make  the  required  investigations,  the  expense 
to  be  borne  by  the  correspondent. 

Address  Director  Statistical  Bureau,  25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 

(Continued  on  Srd  page  of  cover) 


The  Candidate  and  th^,^,^^^^^^^ 
Candidate  Department  of  a 
Foreign  Mission  Board 


^r 


Being  the  Report  of  a  Conference 

Held  at  the  Headquarters  of  the 

Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America 

25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  City 

December  3-4,  1918 


Edited  h^ 


Fennell  p.  Turner 


3V  2391  .N4  1918 

Foreign  Missions  Conference 

of  North  America.  Committee 
The  candidate  and  the 

CLan4ida±e  ^eDartment  QlL_b^ 

Published  by  order  of  the 
Committee  of  Reference  and  Cottnsel 
25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  City 


THE  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  CONFERENCE 
OF  NORTH  AMERICA 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  TWENTY-SIXTH  CONFERENCE 

Canon  S.  Gould,  M.D Chairman 

Rev.  William  E.  Strong,  D.D First  Vice-Chairman 

Rev.  T.  Bronson  Rav,  D.D Second  Vice-Chairman 

Mr.  W.  Henry  Grant Honorary  Secretary 

Rev.  George  Heber  Jones,  D.D Secretary 

Mr.  Alfred  E.  Marling Treasurer 


COMMITTEE   OF   REFERENCE   AND   COUNSEL 
FOR  1919 


This  Committee  is  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York  (Chapter 
99,  Laws  1917).  The  legal  title  is:  "The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  of  the 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America,  Inc." 

Rev.  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D.,  Chairman 
Rev.  Principal  Alfred  Gandier,  D.D.,  Vice-Chairman 
Rev.  Paul  de  Schvveinitz,  D.D.,  Recording  Secretary 
Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner,  Secretary 
Mr.  Alfred  E.  Marling,  Treasurer 

Office:    25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  City. 
Teleplione:   9890  Madison  Square. 
('able  Address:   "Student,  New  York." 


Mrs.  Anna  R.  Atwater 
Allen  R.  Bartholomew 
Fames  L.  Barton 
Arthur  J.  Brown 


term  expires  1920 


William  I.  Ch.^mberlain 
Stephen  J.  Corey 
James  Endicott 

W.   W.    PiNSON 


James  H.  Franklin 


Alfred  Gandier 
John  F.  Goucher 
S.  Gould 
A.  Woodruff  Halsky 


term  expires  192 1 


Miss  Margaret  E.  Hodge 
George  Johnson 
Arthur  S.  Lloyd 
John  R.  Mott 


Paul  de  Schweinitz 
Frank  Mason  North 
Cornelius  H.  Patton 
Mrs.  Henry  W.  Peabody 


term  expires  1922 


Egbert  W.  Smith 
Charles  R.  Watson 
L.  B.  Wolf 
James  Wood 


CONTENTS 


Introductory  Note S-8 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Findings 9-12 

List  of  Delegates  in  Attendance 13-14 

Papers,  Addresses  and  Discussion 15 

Importance  of  the  Candidate  Department — Rev.  John  F.  Goucher,  D.D.  16-19 
Organization    and    Administration    of    the    Candidate    Department — Rev. 

Stanley  White,  D.D ■ 19-26 

Discussion 26-3 1 

Guiding  the  Prospective  Candidate — Miss  Helen  B.  Calder 32-35 

Selecting  the  Candidates — Rev.  Thomas  S.  Donohugh 35-41 

Discussion 41-45 

The  Selection  of  Candidates  from   the    Point   of  View   of   Missionaries  on 

the  Field— Rev.  G.  W.  Sarvis 46-50 

— J.  G.  Vaughan,  M.D 50-53 

Discussion 53-55 

Selecting  and  Training  Leaders  in  Industrial  Establishments — Mr.  Paul  Super  56-61 
The  Selection  of  Candidates  from  the  Point  of  View  of  Student  Volunteers 

at  Home — Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner 61-68 

The  Selection  of  Candidates  for  Special  Positions  on  the  Mission   Field — 

Rev.  C.  H.  Patton,  D.D 68-73 

Short  Term  Workers— Rt.  Rev.  A.  S.  Lloyd,  D.D 73-76 

Discussion 76-77 

Board  Utilization  of  Findings,  Reports  and  Literature  of  the  Board  of 

Missionary  Preparation— Mr.  George  B.  Huntington 78-82 

Discussion • 82-85 

The  Place  of  Special  Training  Schools  in  the  Training  of  Candidates — Mrs. 

Anna  R.  Atwater 85-88 

Discussion 88-91 

The    Effect    of   the    War   on    Securing   of    Candidates   in    Canada — Rev. 

F.  C.  Stephenson,  M.D 92-93 

The  Effect  of  the  War  on  Securing  Missionary  Candidates    in   the   United 

States— Rev.  Charles.  R.  Watson,  D.D 94-96 

Women  Candidates  and  the  War — -Mrs.  Henry  W.  Peabody 96-100 

The  Responsibility  of  the  Boards  in  Securing  Qualified  Candidates — Rev. 

James  L.  Barton,  D.D 101-103 

Discussion 103-110 

Reaching  and  Training  Men  in  the  Army  and  Navy  for  Missionary  Service 

— Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D _ 111-121 

Discussion 1 21-122 

Miscellaneous 123 

A  Review  of  What  Has  Been  Accomplished  by  the  Board  of  Missionary 

Preparation — Dr.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie 124-129 

Can  the  Ideals  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  as  to  the  Preparation 

of  Missionary  Candidates  Be  Made  Effective — Fennell  P.  Turner.  .  . .  130-137 

List  of  Books  and  Pamphlets  Suggested  for  Missionary  Candidates 138-139 

Report  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Medical  Missions 139-142 

The  Missionary  Candidate  and  the  Candidate  Secretary — Fennell  P.  Turner  142-157 
The  China  Inland  Mission's  Method  of  Dealing  with  Its  Candidates — Rev. 

Henry  W.  Frost 158-161 


SUB-COMMITTEE  ON  THE  CULTIVATION 
OF  THE  HOME  CHURCH  FOR  1918 


Stephen  J.  Corey,  Chairnian 


Mrs.  Anna  R.  Atwater, 
Alfred  Gandier, 
John  F.  Goucher, 
A.  Woodruff  Halsey, 
Miss  Margaret  E.  Hodge, 
Cornelius  H.  Patton, 
T.  Bronson  Ray, 
Egbert  W.  Smith, 
L.  B.  Wolf, 

William  P.  Schell. 


John  Y.  Aitchisox. 
A.  E.  Armstrong, 
W.  B.  Beauchamp, 
F.  J.  Clark, 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Cronk, 
Harry  Wade  Hicks, 
William  E.  Lampe, 
William  B.  Millar, 
Francis  M.  Potter, 


The  Conference  was  arranged  by  the  Sub-Committee  on  the  Cuhi- 
vation  of  the  Home  Church  by  direction  of  the  Committee  of  Refer- 
ence and  Counsel,  in  accordance  with  the  vote  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Conference  in  January,  1918,  recommending  that  there  be  held  a  con- 
ference to  consider  "the  problems  of  administration,  of  organization, 
and  of  the  expenditure  of  money  which  bear  upon  the  selection  and 
preparation  of   missionary  candidates." 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 


At  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  held  in  January,  1918, 
Dr.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation,  gave  a  masterly  review  of  what  the  Board 
of  Missionary  Preparation  had  accomplished  since  its  organiza- 
tion. In  this  address  he  strongly  urged  that  there  be  held 
a  Conference  managed  by  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  working  out  "the  problems  of  admin- 
istration, of  organization,  and  of  the  expenditure  of  money 
bearing  upon  the  selection  and  preparation  of  missionary  can- 
didates." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Mornay 
Williams,  it  was  voted  to  refer  to  the  Committee  of  Reference 
and  Counsel  Dr.  Mackenzie's  suggestion  as  to  a  Conferenc-e 
on  Missionary  Candidates. 

The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel,  at  its  first  meet- 
ing following  the  adjournment  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Con- 
ference, carefully  considered  the  suggestion  and  decided  to 
hold  such  a  conference  in  New  York.  The  Sub-Committee 
on  Cultivation  of  the  Home  Church  was  charged  with  the 
responsibility  of  working  out  the  program  and  conducting  the 
Conference.  The  personnel  of  the  Conference  was  limited  to 
administrative  secretaries  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  Can- 
ada and  of  the  United  States,  and  to  members  of  Foreign 
Mission  Boards. 

The  plan  of  the  Committee  was  to  make  the  program  as 
practicable  as  possible.  The  topics  were  arranged  so  that 
much  time  could  be  devoted  to  discussion.  As  finally  adopted 
the  program  was  as  follows : 

PROGRAM 

Tuesday,  December  3rd 
9:30  A.M.     The  Candidate  Department 

1.  Importance  of  the  Candidate   Department  (15  min.) 

Rev.  John  F.  Goucher,  D.D. 

2.  Organization   and   Administration   of   the    Candidate    Department 

Rev.  Stanley  White,  D.D.  (25  min.) 

Discussion 


Introdiictbry  Noie 

xi:oo  A.M.     The  Relation  of  the  Candidate  Department  to  the  Candidate 

1.  Guiding  the  Prospective  Candidate  (iS  min.) 

Miss  Helen  B.  Calder 

2.  Selecting  the  Candidate  (IS  min.) 

Rev.  Thomas  S.  Donohugh 
Discussion 
12:00-12:30     Devotional 
12:30-2:30  P.M.     Recess  for  Luncheon 

2:30  P.M.     The    Selection  of   Candidates   from   the    Point   of  View  of  Missionaries  on 
the  Field 

Rev.  G.  W.  Sarvis  (10  min.) 

Dr.  J.  G.  Vaughan  (10  min.) 

Discussion 

The  Selection  of  Candidates  from  the  Point  of  View  of  Student  Volunteers 
at  Home  (15  min.) 

Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner 
Discussion 

3:30  P.M.     The   Selection   of   Candidates  for  Special   Positions   on   the    Mission   Field 

(15  min.) 
Rev.  Cornelius  H.  Fatten,  D.D. 
Discussion 
Short  Term  Missionaries  (iS  min.) 

Rt.  Rev.  A.  S.  Lloyd,  D.D. 
Discussion 
5:00-7:30  P.M.     Recess  for  Dinner 

7:30  P.M.     The  Training  of  the  Candidates 

Board  Utilization  of  Findings,  Reports  and  Literature  of  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Preparation.     Mr.   George  B.   Huntington      (20  min.) 
Discussion 
The  Place  of  Special  Training  Schools  in  the  Training  of  Candidates  (15  min.) 

Mrs.  Anna  R.  Atwater 
Discussion 

9:30  P.M.     Session  closes 

Wednesday,   December  4th 

9:30  A.M.     The  War  and  the  Candidate  Problem 

1.  The  Effect  of  the  War  upon  the  Securing  of  Candidates  in  Canada 

(10  min.) 
Rev.  Frederick  C.  Stephenson,  M.D. 

2.  The  Effect  of  the  War  upon  the  Candidate  Problem  in  the  United 

States  (10  min.) 

Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D. 
Discussion 

11:00  A.M.     Women  Candidates  and  the  War  (iS  min.) 

Mrs.  Henry  W.  Peabody 
Discussion 
The  Responsibility  of  the  Boards  in  Securing  Qualified   Candidates 

Rev.   James   L.   Barton,    D.D.  (iS  min.) 

Discussion 

12:00-12:30     Devotional 
12:30-2:30  P.M.     Recess  for  Luncheon 

a:oo  P.M.     Reaching  and  Training  Men  in  the  Army  and  Navy  for  Missionary  Service 
Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D.  (30  min.) 

Discussion 

Report  of  Committee  on  Findings 
Adjournment 


The  Conftience  was  in  session  December  3  and  4,  1918,  in 
the  Conference  Room  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Committee 
of  Reference  and  Counsel,  25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 
There  were  in  attendance  113  delegates,  representing  36  dif- 

6 


Introductory  Note 

ferent  Foreign  Mission  Boards.  The  list  of  delegates  in 
attendance  will  be  found  on  pages  13-14. 

In  this  volume  will  be  found  the  papers  presented  at  the 
Conference,  as  well  as  the  discussions,  which  have  been 
carefully  edited. 

Considerable  time  was  devoted  to  the  devotional  periods  of 
the  Conference.  On  Tuesday,  December  3,  the  devotional 
period  at  noon  was  conducted  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Anderson, 
Secretary  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Board,  Philadelphia, 
who  chose  as  his  theme  the  passage:  "Lift  up  your  eyes,  and 
look  on  the  fields,  that  they  are  white  already  unto  harvest." 
(John  4:35.)  The  devotional  period  on  Wednesday,  Decem- 
ber 4,  was  conducted  by  Rev.  E.  C.  Lobenstine,  Secretary  of 
the  China  Continuation  Committee,  Shanghai,  who  chose  as 
his  theme:  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  to 
me."     (John  12  -.7,2.) 

At  the  first  session  the  following  Committee  on  Findings 
was  appointed : 

Dr.    W.    B.    Anderson,    Chairman, 

Miss  Helen  B.  Calder, 

Dr.  William   I.   Chamberlain, 

Dr.  John  F.  Goucher, 

Miss  Margaret  E.  Hodge, 

Miss  Helen  K.  Hunt, 

Mr.  Edward  C.  Jenkins, 

Dr.  p.  H.  J.  Lerrigo, 

Miss  Florence  L.  Nichols. 

This  Committee  on  Findings  carefully  followed  the  papers 
and  discussion  and  at  the  last  session  of  the  Conference 
brought  in  its  report,  which  after  being  discussed  and  amended 
was  adopted.     (See  pages  9-12.) 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Committee  of  Reference  and 
Counsel  which  was  held  on  December  5-6,  the  Committee  on 
Cultivation  of  the  Home  Church,  through  its  Chairman,  Dr. 
Corey,  presented  the  report  of  the  Conference  including  the 
Findings,  and  the  Committee  took  action  referring  the  various 
sections  of  the  Report  on  Findings  to  the  different  Foreign 
Mission  Boards;  and  it  is  hoped  that  action  will  be  taken  by 

7 


Introductory  Note 

each  Board  which  will  result  in  the  recommendations  of  the 
Committee  on  Findings  receiving  full  consideration  by  the 
Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  Canada  and  the  United  States. 

We  have  included  by  request  in  this  volume  several  mis- 
cellaneous papers  bearing  on  the  candidate  problem  so  that 
these  may  be  available  for  those  who  are  studying  the  subject. 
(See  pages  123-161.) 

The  Conference  had  no  legislative  or  executive  functions 
and  no  Board  is  bound  by  the  conclusions.  This  report  is 
published  by  order  of  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Coun- 
sel in  response  to  the  demands  of  the  delegates  present  as 
well  as  of  the  large  number  of  those  interested  who  could 
not  attend. 

Stephen  J.  Corey, 

Chairman  of  the  Conference 


REPORT  OF  THE   COMMITTEE   ON    FIND- 
INGS OF  CONFERENCE  ON  MISSIONARY 
CANDIDATES 

Adopted  by  the  Conference  on  Missionary  Candidates  held  at  25  Madi- 
son Avenue,  New  York,  December  3  and  4,  and  approved  by  the  . 
Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  on  December  6,  1918 

The  Committee  on  Findings  presents  the  following  recom- 
mendations for  the  consideration  of  the  Conference : 

I.     Standard  of  Qualifications 

Because  of  the  vital  importance,  to  the  missionary  cause  of 
securing  for  service  the  best  quaHfied  men  and  women,  each 
Board  should  be  requested 

1.  To  formulate  definitely  a  statement  of  required  qualifica- 
tions for  its  missionaries,  and 

2.  To  furnish  a  copy  of  this  statement  to  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation. 

II.     Organization 

1.  Each  Board  should  have  a  distinctly  organized  candidate 
department  composed  of  a  strong  committee  working  with  a 
candidate  secretary  who  makes  it  his  major  responsibility,  if 
possible,  to  discover  and  cultivate  candidates,  and  to  guide 
them  in  their  training. 

a.  This  department  should  be  operated  in  close  connection 
with  the  foreign  department  of  its  board,  keeping  in  touch 
with  the  needs  in  the  fields. 

h.  It  should  have  a  budget  adequate  to  enable  it  to  do  its 
work  thoroughly. 

c.  It  should  make  provisions  for  the  selection  of  mission- 
aries for  special  forms  of  work,  utilizing  the  service  of  special- 
ists in  making  the  selection,  where  such  is  available,  and  in  so 
far  as  possible  securing  their  appointment  in  the  field  to  such 
work. 

d.  It  should  cultivate  the  sympathy  of  rejected  candidates, 
and  insure  their  continued  interest  in  the  cause  of  missions. 

2.  Each  Board  should  be  asked  to  report  on  its  candidate 
organization  to  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel. 


Finding;!!!   of  the   Conference 

III.  Selection  of  Candidates 

1.  In  the  selection  of  candidates  personality  should  be  a 
primary  qualification.  The  process  of  selection  and  cultiva- 
tion should  be  carried  on  in  so  far  as  possible  through  per- 
sonal contact  with  the  committee  and  the  secretary. 

2.  Not  only  should  student  volunteers  be  cultivated  but  well 
qualified  men  and  women  should  be  sought  and  should  have  the 
claims  of  the  work  pressed  upon  them.  Appointment  and 
assignment  should  be  effected  at  the  earliest  date  possible. 

3.  The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  should  be  re- 
quested to  appoint  a  committee  to  study  the  various  reference 
blanks,  general  and  special,  now  in  use  by  the  boards,  and  to 
formulate  some  standardized  blanks  to  be  then  referred  to 
the  boards  for  their  consideration. 

4.  The  medical  examining  work  should  be  most  thorough 
and  examiners   should  be  most  carefully  selected. 

a.  All  boards  should  unite  in  using  the  same  examining 
medical  questionnaire  and  report. 

h.  In  so  far  as  possible  all  boards  should  unite  in  securing 
the  service  of  examiners.  Such  unification  and  concentration 
of  the  work  of  examination  upon  a  few  examiners  will  tend 
to  produce  specialists  in  this  line. 

c.  There  should  be  a  preliminary  medical  examination  soon 
after  correspondence  is  opened  with  the  candidate,  followed  by 
special  physical  training  where  such  is  needed,  and  the  medical 
examination  should  be  repeated  as  often  as  necessary. 

5.  The  Report  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Medical  Missions 
of  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  is  endorsed  by  the 
Conference  and  all  boards  are  urged  to  act  upon  its  sugges- 
tions.    (See  page  139.) 

IV.  Training  of  Candidates 

1.  In  directing  the  training  of  candidates  use  should  be 
made  of  the  literature  provided  by  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation. 

2.  Care  should  be  taken  that  every  candidate  has  an  adequate 
understanding  of  the  fundamentals  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  at  this  point  the  candidate  department  must  insist  upon 
the  quality  of  the  training. 

3.  He  should  also  have  an  understanding  of  the  funda- 
mentals of  international  relationships. 

4.  Because  of  the  new  emphasis  being  laid  upon  specialized 
forms  of  missionary  work,  the  candidate  department  should 
make  every  provision  possible  to  encourage  candidates  to  se- 
cure the  highest  j^rofessional  training.  This  development  of 
specialization  calls  for  a  more  careful  definition  of  terms  with 

10 


Fiiidiiig'.s   of  the    Conferene*^ 

reference  to  the  divisions  of  the  work.  Emphasis  should  be 
laid  upon  the  fact  that  the  missionary  specialist  must  be  as 
truly  a  missionary  of  the  Cross  as  the  ordained  man. 

V.     Cooperation  in  Securing  and   Training   Candidates 

1.  The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  should  be  re- 
quested to  make  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  subject  of  the 
success  and  failure  of  missionaries,  from  data  available  in 
the  offices  of  the  boards  and  on  the  fields. 

2.  The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  should  be  re- 
quested to  confer  with  representatives  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Federation  of  Women's  Boards  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  the  interdenomi- 
national agencies  for  the  purpose  of  coordinating  recruiting 
methods  and  campaigns  with  a  view  to  the  securing  of  due 
proportions  in  the  presentation  of  the  needs  of  each  organ- 
ization. 

3.  When  requested  by  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  the 
boards  should  allocate  certain  missionaries,  if  possible,  to 
cooperate  with  the  Movement. 

4.  Candidates  whose  services  cannot  be  utilized  or  who  can- 
not be  appointed  to  the  form  of  work  for  which  they  are 
specially  prepared,  should  be  recommended  by  the  board  con- 
sidering the  application  to  some  other  board  that  can  use  them 
to  advantage. 

5.  The  candidate  departments  of  the  boards  might  arrange 
for  the  services  of  highly  qualified  men  for  short  term  appoint- 
ments or  for  lecture  tours  in  the  fields,  and  the  Committee  of 
Reference  and  Counsel  should  be  requested  to  facilitate  this 
matter  in  so  far  as  possible. 

VT     Candidates  and  War  Conditions 

1.  There  are  great  numbers  of  qualified  men  and  women, 
but  the  need  for  recruits  eclipses  all  other  needs,  and  this  is 
the  opportune  time  to  organize  unitedly  for  the  securing  of 
life  for  missionary  service. 

2.  The  following  call  for  recruits,  framed  by  Dr.  Stanley 
Wliite.  should  be  submitted  to  the  Committee  of  Reference  and 
Counsel  as  the  appeal  of  this  Conference: 

"The  Call  of  the  Conference  on  Foreign  Mission   Candidates  to   the 
Young  Men  and  Women  of  To-day. 

"The  War  is  over!  The  battle  for  the  ideals  of  righteousness,  jus- 
tice and  truth  has  been  won.  The  Victory  has  cost  enormously  in 
money,  suffering,  sorrow  and  life-blood.  Men  have  willingly  sacrificed 
everything,  including  life,  rather  than  yield  their  principles.  They 
have  left  a  legacy  of  heroic  service  that  must  be  neither  forgotten 
nor  lost.     The  banner  thev  have  carried  forward  in  war  must  be  held 


Fin<1iii;;>i   of  the   Coiiferoiu-o 

high  in  the  days  of  peace.  This  privilege  belongs  peculiarly  to  the 
young  manhood  and  womanhood  of  this  generation.  The  new  task 
will  be  harder  than  the  old  for  it  will  be  shorn  of  the  glamour,  the 
excitement  and  the  pageantry  of  War.  The  War  was  won  with 
armies.  It  will  need  more  than  armies  to  keep  it  won.  It  will  require 
men  who  have  the  power  to  see  and  follow  ideals  when  the  world  has 
lost  sight  of  them;  men  who  have  the  capacity  to  draw  their  motives 
from  unseen  and  hidden  sources;  men  who  have  wills  strong  enough 
to  remain  faithful  and  patient  when  God  is  working  in  his  ordinary 
and  more  deliberate  ways.  The  Christian  Church  must  accept  this 
challenge.  Upon  the  ministers  at  home  and  missionaries  abroad  will 
devolve  the  leadership.  Our  appeal  is  to  those  who  have  heard  the 
call  of  War.  The  call  of  Peace  is  even  more  arresting.  The  War 
must  be  interpreted  to  the  Nations  of  the  World.  They  must  realize 
that  spiritual  forces  are  more  powerful  than  material,  that  righteous- 
ness exalts  a  Nation,  that  Brotherhood  and  not  rivalry  must  deter- 
mine international  relationships  and  that  sacrificial  service  is  essential 
to  the  World's  well-being.  These  truths  are  at  the  heart  of  the  mis- 
sionary message.  They  must  be  carried  to  the  ends  of  the  world.  The 
welfare  of  the  world  will  depend  upon  men  who  have  incarnated  these 
truths'  in  their  lives  and  are  willing  ito  live  for  them.  The  Mission 
Boards  of  all  the  Churches  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  have  con- 
secrated themselves  to  this  task.  They  need  men  and  women  in  larger 
numbers  than  ever  before.  Every  phase  of  the  work  needs  strengthen- 
ing. The  strongest  and  finest  qualities  of  brain,  heart  and  hand  are 
required.  The  demand  is  for  ministers,  teachers,  doctors,  agriculturists, 
technical  workers,  businessmen.  God  can  use  every  talent  a  man  pos- 
sesses. This  appeal  is  to  you.  We  are  face  to  face  with  a  great  crisis. 
It  is  the  day  of  opportunity  for  young  men  and  women.  Again  can  it 
be  said  Christ  has  gathered  his  disciples  about  him  and  with  greater 
intensity  than  ever  before  is  saying: 

"  'Go  ye  therefore,  to  all  nations  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.'  " 

3.  There  is  urgent  need  of  getting  the  missionary  call  before 
young  men  and  women  before  demobilization  has  been  com- 
pleted, so  we  recommend  that  the  Committee  of  Reference 
and  Counsel  immediately  issue  a  strong  call  for  recruits  for 
missionary  service,  having  it  endorsed  by  some  leading  states- 
men and  military  men. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

W.  B.  Anderson,  Chairman. 
Helen  B.  Calder, 
William  I.  Chamberlain, 
John  F.  Goucher, 
Margaret  E,  Hodge, 
Helen  K.  Hunt, 
P.  H.  J.  Lerrigo, 
Florence  L.  Nichols, 

Coiiiiiiitfcc  on  Findings. 


PERSONNEL 

Aitchison,    Rev.    John    Y.,    D.D.,    Amtrican    Baptist. 
Allen,    Miss   Belle   J.,    M.D.,    Student  A'olunteer    Movement. 
Alsop,    Mrs.    David   G.,    Friends  of   Philadelphia. 
Anderson,    Rev.    W.    B.,    D.D.,    United    Presbyterian. 
Andrews,    Miss   Susan    M.,    Universalist,    Women's. 

Baldwin,    Mrs.    Frederick   A.,    Reformed   in   America,    ^^'oraan's. 

Barton,    Rev.   James   L.,    D.D..   American   Board. 

Beede,    B.    Willis,    American    Friends. 

Bender,    Miss   Elizabeth    R.,    Methodist   Episcopal,    Woman's. 

Bratcher,    Rev.    Lewis    M.,    Southern    Baptist. 

Brown,    Rev.    Arthur    J..    D.D.,    Presbyterian,    U.S.A. 

Brown,    Frank  L.,   World's   Sunday   School   Association. 

Calder,   Miss  Helen   B.,  American   Board,   Woman's. 
Carver,    Rev.   W.    Owen.   D.D.,    Southern   Baptist. 
Chamberlain,    Rev.    Lewis   Birge,    American    Bible   Society. 
Chamberlain,    Rev.   William   I.,    Ph.D.,    Reformed   in    America. 
Chamberlin,    Mrs.    H.    A.,    American    Baptist,    Woman's. 
Cobb,    Miss  Eliza  P.,   Reformed  in  America,   Woman's. 
Colburn.   Miss   Grace  T.,   American   Baptist.   Woman's. 
Conde,    Miss  Bertha,   Y.   W.   C.   A.,  National   Board. 
Corey,   Rev.    Stephen   J.,   LL.D.,   Christian    (Disciples). 
Coultas,    Rev.   A.   J..   Methodist   Episcopal. 
Crane,  Miss  Helen   Bond,   Student   Volunteer  Movement. 
Crosby,   Mrs.   F.   W.,   Presbyterian,   U.   S.   A.,   Woman's. 
Cutting,    Churchill    H.,   American    Bible    Society. 

Demarest,    Rev.    W.    H.    S.,    D.D.,    Reformed    in   America. 
de   Schweinitz,    Rev.    Paul,   D.D.,    Moravian. 
Donohugh,   Rev.   Thomas   S.,    Methodist    Episcopal. 
Drach,  Rev.  George,  United  Lutheran. 

Eddy,   Rev.    D.    Brewer,   American    Board. 
Endicott,   Rev.  James,   D.D.,   Methodist,    Canada. 

Farmer,    Mrs.    W.   H.,   American    Baptist,    Woman's. 
Fenner,    Miss    Lena    S.,    Free    Baptist,    Woman's. 
Frost,   Rev.   Henry  W.,   China  Inland. 

Good,    Rev.   James  I.,   D.D.,    Reformed,   U.    S. 
Goucher,   Rev.   John   F.,    D.D.,   Methodist   Episcopal. 
Grant,  W.   Henry,   Canton   Christian   College. 
Guthrie,    Mrs.    Katharine    M.,   American    Friends. 

Hal  ford,   Colonel   E.   W.,   Methodist   Episcopal. 
Halliday,   Miss  Vernon,   Student   V^olunteer  Movement. 
Helmer,   Miss  Edith,   Y.   W.   C.   A.,   National   Board. 
Hicks,    Harry   Wade,    New   York   Sunday    School   Association. 
Hill,   Rev.   E.   Munson,    D.D..   Canadian   Congregational. 
Hodge,    Miss   Margaret   E.,    Presbyterian,    U.    S.   A.,   Woman's. 
Howell,   Mrs.   J.    Beatty.   Presbyterian,   U.    S.  A.,   Woman's. 
Hughes,   Miss   Frances  L.,    Presbyterian,   U.    S.   A.,   Woman's. 
Hunt,   Miss  Helen  K..  American   Baptist,   Woman's. 
Huntington,  George  B.,  American  Baptist. 

Inman,   Rev.   Samuel   G.,   Committee   on   Cooperation   in   Latin   America. 

Johnson,   Rev.   George,   Evangelical  Association. 

Jones,    Rev.   George   Heber,    D.D.,    Secretary,    Foreign   MissionG   Conference. 

Jordan,  Rev.  L.  G.,  D.D.,  National  Baptist. 

Knox,   Mrs.   DeWitt,   Reformed  in  America,  Woman's. 
Kugler,   Miss  Anna   S.,   M.D.,   United  Lutheran. 

Lampe,   Rev.   William   E.,   Ph.D.,    Reformed,   U.    S. 
Lamson,   Miss  Kate   G..   American   Board,   Woman's. 
Lawrence,    Miss   O.    H.,    Reformed   in   America,   Woman's. 

13 


Personnel 

Lerrigo,   Rev.    P.    H.   J.,    M.D.,   American   Baptist. 
Levy,    Rev.    Maurice   A.,   American    Baptist. 
Lewis,    Rev.   James   H.,    Methodist   Episcopal. 
Lingle,    Rev.    Walter    L.,    D.D.,    Presbyterian,    U.    .S.    (South). 
Lloyd,    Rt.    Rev.    Arthur    S.,    D.D.,    Protestant    K])iscopal. 
Lobenstine,    Rev.    E.    C,    Secretary,    China    Continuation    Committee. 
Lockwood,    W.    W.,    Y.    M.    C.    A.,    International    Committee. 
Longstreth,    Mrs.    Charles    A.,    Friends    of    I'hiladelphia. 

MacGillivray,    Rev.    Donald,    D.D.,    Presbyterian,    Canada. 
MacMullen,    Rev.    Wallace,    D.D.,    Methodist    Episcopal. 
Marston,    Mrs. 'Frank   H.,    Woman's    Union    Missionary    Society. 
Masters,    Miss   Clara   E.,    Woman's    Union    Missionary    Society. 
McClain,    Rev.    Alva   J.,    Brethren    Church. 

McDowell,    Mrs.    William    Fraser,    Methodist    Episcopal,    Woman's. 
Menzcl.    Rev.    Paul   A.,    Evangelical    Synod   of   N.   A. 
Merle-Smith,    Mrs.   Wilton,    Presbyterian,    U.    S.   A.,    Woman's. 
Murray,   J.    Lovell,    Student    Volunteer    Movement. 

Niebel,    Rev.    B.    H.,    D.D.,    United    Evangelical. 
North,    Rev.    Frank   Mason,    D.D.,    Methodist    Episcopal. 

Olcott,    Mrs.    E.    E.,    Reformed   in   America,   Woman's. 

Padelford,    Rev.    Frank   W.,    D.D.,    Baptist    Board   of   Education. 

Patton,   Rev.   Cornelius   H.,    D.D.,   American   Board. 

Peabody,    Mrs.    Henry    W.,    American    Baptist,    Woman's. 

Potter,    Francis   M.,    Reformed   in   America. 

Prentice,    Mrs.    W.    Packer,    Presbyterian,   U.    S.   A.,    Woman's. 

Prescott,    Miss   Nellie   G.,    American    Baptist,   Woman's. 

Reed,   Rev.  Orville,  Ph.D.,  Presbyterian,   U.   S.  A. 
Ross,   Mrs.    Robert,    Presbyterian,    Canada,   Woman's. 

Sailer,   Prof.    T.    H.    P..    Ph.D..    Presbyterian,   U.    S.    A. 

St.    John,    Rev.    Burton,    Student    Volunteer    Movement. 

Sala,    Rev.    John    P.,    Christian    (Disciples). 

Samson,    Rev.    Arthur    A.,    D.D.,    Reformed    Presbyterian. 

Sanders,    Rev.    Frank    K..    Ph.D.,    Board   of    Missionary    Preparation. 

Sarvis,   Rev.   Guy  W.,   Christian    (Disciples). 

Schaffer,    Rev.    J.    R.,    Inland-South   America    Missionary    Union. 

Schauffler,    Mrs.    /\.    F.,    Presbyterian,    U.    S.    A.,    Woman's. 

Seager,    Mrs.    L.    H.,    Evangelical    Association,    Woman's. 

Sharp,    Thomas    S.,    Student    Volunteer    Movement. 

Shaw,    Rev.    Edwin,    Seventh    Day   Baptist. 

Shepard,    Rev.   J.   W.,    Southern   Baptist. 

Speer,    Robert   E.,    D.D.,   Presbyterian,    U.    S.   A. 

Super,    Paul,    V.    M.    C.    A.,    International    Committee. 

Taylor,    Rev.    Mills  J.,   LTnited    Presbyterian. 

Trout,    Miss    Daisy   June,    Christian    (Disciples),    Woman's. 

Turner,    Fennell    P.,    Student    Volunteer    Movement. 

Van    Nest,    Miss    Katharine,    Reformed    in    America,    Woman's. 
Vaughan,    J.    G.,    M.D.,    Methodist    Episcopal. 

"Watson,   Rev.   Charles   R..    D.D.,   United   Presbyterian. 
White,    Rev.    Stanley,    D.D.,   Presbyterian,    U.    S.   A. 
Whittlesey.    Roger    B.,   China    Inland. 
Wilkins,    Mrs.    Marietta    P..,    Universali-st,    Women's. 
Williams,   Rev.  John   E.,   D.D.,   Presbyterian,   U.   S.   A. 
Wilson,    Rev.    Findley   M.,    D.D.,    Reformed   Presbyterian. 
Wolf,    Rev.    L.    B.,    D.D.,    United    Lutheran. 

Young,   Mrs.   Charles   S.,   American    Baptist,   Woman's, 


14 


PAPERS,  ADDRESSES  AND   DISCUSSION 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  CANDIDATE 
DEPARTMENT 

Rev.  John  F.  Gouciier,  D.D.,  Baltimore 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  discuss  this  problem  because  of  in- 
sufficient time  and  because  of  the  expectation  that  the  discus- 
sion will  come  from  persons  in  this  goodly  company.  I  will,  if 
I  may,  read  a  few  notes  which  I  have  jotted  down  as  sugges- 
tions to  open  the  discussion. 

1.  The  missionary  is  the  chosen  and  commissioned  agent  of 
the  Church,  sent  and  maintained  to  interpret  God  as  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ,  to  the  non-Christian  world.  His  supreme  obliga- 
tion is  to  live  and  teach  the  Christ  life.  He  is  and  should  be 
specially  commissioned  by  the  Church  as  its  agent ;  for  he  will 
need  its  authority  in  fact  and  in  his  consciousness  to  meet  the 
varied  and  serious  responsibilities  which  will  confront  him. 
Whatever  may  be  the  relation  of  any  one  person  to  his  discov- 
ery and  to  the  assembling  of  the  facts  concerning  him  upon 
which  must  be  based  the  judgment  as  to  his  fitness,  the  selec- 
tion of  the  candidate  should  be  the  function  of  a  carefully 
chosen,  widely  experienced  and  deeply  consecrated  Candidate 
Committee,  who  personally  know  God,  know  men  and  know 
Missions.  The  aggregate  wisdom  of  such  a  Committee,  trained 
for  its  work,  should  be  appealed  to  and  secured  before  his 
appointment,  because  of  the  serious  responsibilities  and  far- 
reaching  issues  involved  in  selecting  and  commissioning  each 
missionary. 

2.  The  missionary  is  sent  out  and  maintained  with  conse- 
crated money.  The  bulk  of  the  money  which  comes  into  the 
missionary  treasury  is  not  through  large  gifts,  but  represents 
organized  poverty.  It  is  real  blood  money.  In  many  cases  it 
represents  as  devoted  a  spirit  and  as  real  personal  sacrifice  as 
characterize  the  missionary  himself.  The  money  thus  conse- 
crated inter])rets  supreme  love  for  Christ  with  its  passion  for 
service,  which  make  it  s])ccially  dear  to  God.  He  is  jealous 
that  it  shall  not  be  wasted,  but  that  it  shall  bring  forth  much 
fruit.  To  use  such  consecrated  money  for  sending  out  or  for 
the  maintenance  of  an  incompetent  agent,  when  proper  care 
might  have  secured  an  efficient  one,  is  taking  the  sacrifice  from 
off  the  altar  and  using  it  for  unholy  purposes. 

3.  The  nu'ssionary  is  to  be  the  rei^rcsentative  of  God  to  the 

16 


The  Importniire   of  the   Cantlidate   Department 

non-Christian  peoples,  as  though  God  spoke  to  them  through 
him.  The  Divine  Commission  is  "to  be  His  witnesses."  No 
man  can  witness  to  that  which  he  does  not  personally  know. 
The  people  to  whom  the  missionary  is  to  minister  must  believe 
the  messenger  before  they  will  believe  the  message.  They  can- 
not understand  the  infinite  love  of  God,  the  Divine  Sympathy, 
the  Fatherhood  of  God,  nor  brotherhood  in  Christ,  except  as 
His  representatives  interpret  them  in  terms  of  human  living. 

4.  The  missionary  has  a  personal  right  to  the  most  inquisi- 
tive, comprehensive  and  thorough  consideration  of  himself,  his 
aptitudes,  his  acquirements  and  his  adaptation  to  the  work  pro- 
posed. In  his  zeal  to  serve,  the  candidate  considers  himself 
called  to  missionary  work  and  assumes  that  in  a  foreign  field 
he  can  invest  his  life  with  largest  outcome  for  the  Kingdom. 
Inexperienced  and  desiring  to  be  directed,  he  places  himself, 
his  life,  his  future  in  the  hands  of  the  Mission  Board,  relying 
upon  its  judgment  for  his  opportunity.  To  direct  such  a  spirit 
without  the  most  consecrated,  comprehensive,  careful  con- 
sideration is  to  handle  that  which  is  holy  with  unholy  hands. 

5.  The  missionary's  assignment  is  not  a  casual  affair,  nor 
possibly  only  a  mistake  which  may  be  rectified.  If  it  prove  to 
be  a  mistake  at  all,  it  is  a  disaster.  If  it  is  a  mistake  which 
could  have  been  avoided,  it  is  a  criminal  disaster, 

a.  Because  the  Church  may  be  seriously  compromised  by 
his  misinterpretation  of  its  sanctity  and  its  mission ; 

b.  Because  consecrated,  sacred  money  would  be  misapplied 
and  squandered  in  the  sending  and  maintenance  of  an  incom- 
petent agent  ; 

c.  'Because  the  spiritually  destitute  would  be  deceived  if 
they  looked  to  the  missionary  for  an  egg  and  he  gave  them 
a  scorpion  ; 

d.  Because  by  such  a  mistake  the  providing  of  an  adequate 
ministry  would  be  delayed  until  another  and  a  proper  agent 
could  be  secured,  prepared  and  sent  to  take  his  place ;  thus 
the  opportunity  for  that  generation  at  least  may  have  passed 
forever,  or  the  substitute  may  be  called  upon  to  face  indififer- 
ence  or  organized  opposition ; 

e.  Because  of  the  candidate's  misadjustment,  he  who  might 
hav-e  been  eminently  successful  under  other  conditions  has 
been  placed  where  he  will  register' failure  instead  of  efficiency 
and  his  life  be  blighted,  for  he  may  have  passed  the  age  of 
possible  adaptation  to  other  work,  or  have  become  discouraged 
because  of  the  unwise  treatment  he  received  from  those  in 
whom  he  had  placed  his  confidence ; 

f.  Because  in  his  relation  to  the  missionaries  already  in  the 
field,  the  missionary  who  is  a  misfit  becomes  a  liability  instead 
of  an  asset,  and  instead  of  proving  to  be  a  reenforcement  he 

17 


The   Tiii|><>r<:iiico   of  ilie   Caiulidate  Departmettt 

becomes  a  hindrance.  It  is  a  serious  thing-  to  mar  the  "esprit- 
de-corps"  of  a  devoted  company,  or  to  undermine  its  morale. 
In  the  face  of  inherited,  entrenched,  organized  opposition,  that 
spells  defeat. 

g.  Because  if  it  be  necessary  to  refuse  a  candidate  and  this 
be  done  without  tact,  in  an  indifferent,  perfunctory  or  unsym- 
pathetic manner,  he  may  become  embittered  toward  foreign 
mission  work.  This  is  not  a  gratuitous  assumption  concerning 
disappointed  candidates.  Such  a  possible  result  is  known  to 
those  who  are  familiar  with  the  number  of  enthusiastic  young 
people  who  at  some  time  in  their  lives  thought  themselves 
called  to  foreign  mission  work,  but  were  not  accepted.  A  few 
years  since,  I  had  free  access  to  the  Candidate  Committee 
records  of  a  representative  mission  board,  and  I  found  in  the 
card  catalogue  the  names  of 

127  who  said  they  would  be   availal)le   for  appointment  within 
that  year, 

103  for  the  following  year, 
82  others  who  were  under  consideration, 
139  more  inquiring  about  service,  and 

128  others  who  seemed  on  the  face  of  their  applications  not  to 
be  qualified  for  the  work  they  sought. 

That  is,  the  Committee  had  before  it  during  that  year  the 
names  of  579  }0ung  people  who  thought  it  would  be  their  duty 
to  offer  themselves  for  work  in  the  foreign  field.  These  had  to 
be  dealt  with  individually  by  the  Committee  which  was  in- 
structed to  recommend  somewhat  less  than  one  hundred  can- 
didates for  appointment  during  those  two  years.  If  this  half 
a  thousand  appHcants  who  could  not  be  accepted  had  not  been 
treated  with  the  tenderest  consideration  and  given  a  vision  of 
such  other  fields  of  service  as  interpreted  the  sympathy  of  the 
Church  with  their  aspirations  and  its  intense  desire  to  aid  them 
to  the  best  investment  of  their  lives  for  Christ,  many  of  them 
might  have  been  wrecked  as  to  their  faith  and  turned  away 
from  Christian  service. 

In  its  final  analysis  success  depends  upon  personality — per- 
sonality properly  adjusted,  or  the  proper  man  in  the  right 
place,  i.  e.,  success  is  the  result  of  exact  adjustment  of  agents 
and  agencies  to  the  objects  sought.  This  is  accepted  as  a 
truism  in  secular  business,  there  are  manufacturers  who  employ 
experts  to  select  their  employees  and  to  reassign  them  as  they 
reveal  their  aptitudes  or  want  of  adjustment  to  the  work  as- 
signed. Some  of  these  experts  are  considered  a  paying  in- 
vestment at  a  salary  of  $10,000  a  year.  Other  companies 
maintain  expensive  training  facilities  to  test  and  qualify 
their  agents  before  assigning  them.  The  King's  business 
requires   tiie   wisest   methods   of   procedure.      In   a   thorough 

18 


The    Orgraiilzaliou    sumI    AiIiiiiiiiMlraUou    c(f    tlio    Caiidulate    Ueparlinent 

organization  each  unit  is  so  consequentially  related  to  every 
other  unit  that  success  is  dependent  upon  the  efficiency  of 
each,  therefore  we  may  not  say  one  unit  is  of  superior  im- 
portance to  another.  But  if,  in  the  efficient  administration  of 
a  Board  of  Missions,  the  value  of  a  unit  is  to  be  measured 
by  the  difficulties,  complexity  and  opportunities  confront- 
ing it,  it  is  safe  to  say  no  imit  is  of  more  crucial  importance 
than  the  Committee  on  Candidates,  which  represents  the  vital 
point  of  contact  between  the  home  Church  and  its  foreign 
interpretation. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  AND  ADMINISTRA- 
TION OF  THE  CANDIDATE  DEPARTMENT 

Rev.  Stanley  White,  D.D.,  New  York 

I  have  been  asked  to  open  the  discussion  on  the  Organiza- 
tion and  Administration  of  the  Candidate  Department.  I  glad- 
ly do  so,  with  a  slight  hesitancy,  however,  born  of  the  fact 
that  I  realize  that  suggestions  along  this  line  must  be  recog- 
nized as  in  a  measure  ideal  and  in  the  future  so  far  as  their 
realization  is  concerned. 

What  ought  to  be  done  is  so  far  ahead  of  what  is  being 
done  and  what  will  probably  seem  practicable  that  a  consider- 
ation of  this  topic  must  be  regarded  as  the  agitation  which 
must  always  precede  radical  changes.  The  suggestions 
which  I  make  are  not  theoretical,  but  the  result  of  more  than 
ten  years'  experience,  during  which  time  I  have  conducted 
the  correspondence  of  the  Candidate  Department  of  our  own 
Board.  They  are  also  made  with  the  full  realization  that 
while  a  measure  of  success  has  been  attained,  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  Department,  there  are  many  respects  in  which  the 
results  are  very  unsatisfactory.  Certain  convictions  seem  to 
stand  out  clearly : 

I.  Any  Board  that  would  carry  on  the  correspondence  which 
is  necessarily  involved  in  the  proper  conduct  of  the  Candidate 
Department  will  find  that  it  cannot  be  conducted  if  the  Board 
be  of  even  moderate  size,  without  developing  a  volume  of 
correspondence  that  will  necessitate  the  most  careful  handling 
and  its  consideration  by  some  one  who  does  not  deal  with  it 
incidentally  but  who  can  carry  it  as  practically  the  primary 
work  of  his  office. 

Candidate   correspondence   is   not  limited   to    receiving  ap- 

19 


'J'lie    (>i-K':iiii/,iiM<>ii    :iihI    A)liiiiiii.slr:i(ioii    ol'    (lie    Candidate    Doiiiirtiiient 

plications  and  sending  out  application  blanks,  hunting  refer- 
ences and  ])assing  upon  the  applicants.  There  is  a  constant 
tendency  in  this  correspondence  to  become  more  and  more 
minute  so  far  as  the  details  are  concerned.  In  our  own  office 
we  are  carrying  the  names  of  more  than  three  hundred  cor- 
respondents. It  covers  people  of  all  grades  and  of  all  ages. 
It  begins  at  the  time  that  some  of  the  young  people  are  enter- 
ing High  School  and  it  continues  until  they  are  through  the 
Seminary  or  other  form  of  specialized  preparation.  It  even 
deals  with  men  and  women  in  mature  life  who,  for  one 
reason  or  another,  are  facing  the  fact  of  the  possibility  of 
their  going  to  the  mission  field. 

At  times  some  of  this  correspondence  is  of  a  routine  char- 
acter and  might  be  provided  for  by  regular  form-letters  and 
under  the  direction  of  a  competent  clerk;  but  a  large  part  of 
it  is  personal  and  it  can  only  be  dealt  with  adequately  by 
some  one  who  is  able  to  enter  into  the  personal  problem  of 
the  candidate,  to  sympathize  with  him  and  in  a  sense  put  him- 
self in  his  place.  More  than  that,  it  is  correspondence  which 
will  not  l)e  satisfactory  unless  the  candidate  feels  that  it 
is  conducted  by  one  who  is  in  final  authority  in  the  Board 
and  who  can  speak  with  definiteness  and  certainty  as  to  the 
questions  which  are  asked. 

There  is  a  large  place  for  the  assistant  in  a  Candidate 
Department  but  in  much  of  the  correspondence  the  signature 
must  be  from  the  head  of  the  department  and  it  must  not  be 
affixed  to  a  letter  written  by  some  one  else  but  must  mani- 
festly be  the  evidence  that  the  whole  question  is  understood 
and  has  been  carefully  thought  out  by  the  head  of  the  Depart- 
ment himself.  One  has  only  to  ask  himself  what  he  would 
like  to  have  done  with  his  own  son  in  a  matter  affecting  his 
life-work  to  realize  the  point  that-  I  am  trying  to  make.  It 
is  very  evident,  therefore,  that  the  kind  of  correspondence 
which  is  involved  cannot  be  carried  on  the  mind  of  an  indi- 
vidual, a  large  part  of  whose  thought  is  occupied  with  other 
interests.  It  must  be  so  organized  and  correlated  in  an  office 
in  the  care  of  those  who  understand  the  details  that  the  facts 
can  easily  and  frequently  if  necessary  be  put  in  proper 
sequence  and  grasped  by  one  in  authority  very  much  as  a 
lawyer  would  grasp  his  problem  when  his  clerks  bring  him  all 
the  factors  in  the  case. 

There  is  a  still  further  reason  why  this  correspondence 
requires  more  adequate  handling  than  at  present  because  of 
the  development  in  these  last  few  years  of  the  specific  prepara- 
tion for  specific  work  on  the  part  of  the  candidate.  Formerly 
when  the  candidate  offered  himself  for  general  missionary 
service  it  was  comi)arative]y  simple  to  direct  him  along  a  few 


The    Organization    anrt    A<1iniuis<raUon    of   the    Candidate    Departineni 

broad,  general  lines  either  in  his  preparation  as  a  minister, 
an  educator  or  a  doctor.  When  he  went  out  to  the  Mission 
he  was  fitted  into,  or,  as  one  might  say,  worked  into  a  place 
of  service.  At  present  young  people  are  unwilling,  and  rightly 
so,  to  face  missionary  service  in  this  attitude  of  mind.  All 
the  colleges  are  offering  specialized  preparation. 

Young  people  in  this  country  expect  very  early  in  their 
course  through  elective  systems  and  otherwise  to  focus 
their  thought  upon  a  particular  kind  of  work.  It  is  inevit- 
able that  those  who  are  going  to  the  Mission  Field  should  feel 
this  tendency  and  they  come  offering  themselves  to  the  Board 
as  specialists  and  experts.  The  tendency  manifested  itself 
first  in  educational  work  and  requests  for  opportunities  to 
teach  in  the  various  grades  of  schools,  in  departments  of 
these  schools  and  in  particular  countries  were  frequent.  After 
that  came  the  medical  work  which  passed  from  the  stage 
when  men  would  go  out  as  general  practitioners  into  the  time 
when  they  offered  themselves  as  surgeons,  bacteriologists,  etc. 
The  latest  phase  of  this  appear^  in  the  ministerial  candidate 
who  now  offers  himself  not  only  for  general  missionary  work 
but  frequently  as  teacher  in  a  Bible  school  or  professor  in 
a  seminary.  Along  a  similar  line  the  candidates  are  very 
early  in  their  preparation  and  in  the  interest  of  thoroughness 
a'  :ing  to  be  assigned  at  least  to  the  country  where  they  are 
to  work  in  order  that  they  may  not  only  study  about  the 
country  but  may  adapt  their  preparation  to  the  historic  back- 
ground of  the  work  they  are  to  undertake. 

Not  only  does  this  situation  require  an  increased  corres- 
pondence with  the  candidate  but  it  should  require  also  in- 
creased correspondence  of  the  Candidate  Department  of  the 
Board  with  the  various  fields.  During  the  last  year  it  has 
been  necessary  to  send  special  letters  to  all  the  missions  ask- 
ing for  classified  lists  of  the  recruits  which  were  desired : 
dividing  them,  first,  into  those  which  were  immediately  nec- 
essary to  fill  emergencies  and  vital  vacancies ;  second,  those 
who  would  be  needed  within  the  next  two  or  three  years ;  and 
third,  those  who  would  be  desired  if  they  would  carry  out 
some  plans  for  expansion. 

The  study  and  proper  care  of  this  large  correspondence  with 
the  missions  require  a  far  better  equipped  Candidate  Depart- 
ment than  most  boards  have.  It  is  perhaps  not  necessary  that 
I  should  speak  any  more  in  detail  of  this  thing.  I  hope  I  have 
emphasized  it  so  that  it  can  be  clearly  seen.  I  do  want,  how- 
ever, to  make  a  few  practical  suggestions  for  your  considera- 
tion and  to  lay  special  emphasis  upon  the  fact  of  the  delicacy 
of  all  this  correspondence  and  the  point  that  it  requires  to  be 
done  promptly,  thoroughly  and  with  sympathy.     We  are  deal- 


The    Or^iiiitKiitioii    :inil    A^tlllilli^<<r:l(ioll    of    (lie    CiiiKliiliite    Dopnriment 

ing  with  Life  at  its  most  crucial  point  and  also  witli  those  who 
are  to  be  the  chief  asset  of  a  successful  mission  work.  Mis- 
takes almost  border  on  criminal  neglect. 

One  of  the  most  trying  features  of  this  candidate  work  in 
my  own  experience,  and  I  fancy  if  rumors  which  come  to  my 
ears  are  to  be  believed  that  many  other  candidate  secretaries 
have  had  the  same  experience,  is  in  trying  to  meet  the  very 
necessary  eagerness  of  candidates  for  speedy  decision  without 
at  the  same  time  giving  superficial  judgment.  Anything  in  the 
way  of  increased  ecjuipment  which  will  shorten  the  time  be- 
tween the  candidate's  application  and  a  definite  answer  as  to 
his  future,  from  the  Board,  is  to  be  advocated. 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  Ijoard  could  have  worked  the  pres- 
ent system  more  carefully  or  faithfully  than  ours,  a  system 
which  involves  not  only  the  gathering  of  papers  but  their  con- 
scientious review  by  a  secretarial  council,  but  I  am  frank  to 
say  that  in  my  judgment  some  more  satisfactory  organization 
of  the  Candidate  w(jrk  must  be  discovered  if  we  are  to  escape 
from  many  serious  infelicities.  At  the  present  time  in  our 
Board  we  have  one  secretary  who  is  nominated  the  Candi- 
date Secretary.  It  is  not  the  only  work  of  his  office.  He 
carries  not  only  the  responsibility  for  the  candidate  but  as  a 
member  of  the  Executive  Council  must  understand  and  vote 
upon  all  matters  relating  to  the  missions  which  come  to  the 
Executive  Council. 

He  may  also  be  called  upon  by  the  Home  I^epartment  of  the 
Board  to  take  part  in  campaigns  for  the  raising  of  funds  as 
well  as  to  fulfil  engagements  on  many  committees  and  for 
speaking.  I  mention  this  sim])ly  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  he 
must  necessarily  be  away  from  his  office  a  considerable  part  of 
the  time.  To  supplement  this  our  P)oard  has  given  him  an 
Associate  Secretary  who  takes  care  of  the  technical  work  and 
who  because  of  his  long  experience  as  a  pastor  is  able  also  to 
deal  with  many  of  the  personal  and  delicate  situations.  The 
correspondence  is  carried  on  with  the  aid  of  the  full  time  of 
one  stenographer  and  about  half  the  time  of  another.  The 
preparation  of  papers,  the  keeping  of  records  and  the  writing 
of  letters  is  even  then  a  difficult  task. 

I  might  also  add  that  there  is  every  prospect  that  as  the  work 
of  foreign  missions  goes  on  its  correspondence  will  become 
more  involved  and  delicate,  and  increase  largely  in  volume. 
Even  should  the  development  of  the  native  force  ultimately 
reduce  the  necessity  of  increased  reenforcements,  which  does 
"not  seem  likely  at  present,  the  correspondence  that  must  be 
carried  on  in  greater  detail  would  probably  make  up  for  the 
decreased  number  of  candidates  sent  out. 


The    Org'nui/.ation    aud    Adiuiui.slrntiuu    of   the    Candidate    Department 

II.  Having  spoken  thus  much  in  a  general  way  of  the  neces- 
sities involved  I  would  make  the  following  suggestions : 

1.  That  a  Board  of  any  considerable  size,  and  the  smaller 
Boards  in  so  far  as  they  are  able,  should  have  a  distinct  can- 
didate department,  not  involved  in  any  other  phase  of  the  work 
save  as  it  naturally  touches  it  through  the  fact  that  the  men  are 
being  selected  for  all  the  parts  of  the  work.  I  feel  that  the 
Candidate  Department  should  be  included  under  the  Foreign 
Department ;  for  while  its  work  of  searching  and  selecting  is  at 
home  its  work  of  preparation  is  for  the  foreign  field.  This 
Candidate  Department  should  have  the  oversight  of  the  Can- 
didate work  alone,  its  duties  being  the  discovery,  training  and 
selection  of  suitable  candidates  for  the  mission  field. 

2.  The  Secretary  in  charge  of  the  Candidate  Department 
if  he  were  not  actually  a  foreign  secretary  of  the  Board  should 
be  vitally  related  to  the  foreign  side  of  the  work  so  that  he 
should  have  a  full  understanding  of  its  problems,  its  needs  and 
their  solution.  He  can  not  select  men  for  work  in  regard  to 
which  he  is  in  a  measure  ignorant.  It  would  seem  a  natural 
and  almost  necessary  thing  that  the  Candidate  Department 
Secretary  should  at  least  have  made  a  personal  visit  to  the 
foreign  field  and  have  studied  the  various  forms  of  work  at 
first-hand. 

3.  In  one  of  the  large  boards  this  Candidate  Secretary 
should  have  an  Associate  with  him  and  develop  under  him  a 
department  which  should  largely  relieve  him  of  routine  and 
detail  and  therefore  leave  him  released  for  the  kind  of  work 
that  is  necessary  in  searching  the  seminaries  and  colleges  for 
candidates  and  in  personal  visitation  to  candidates.  One  of 
the  weaknesses  of  Candidate  work  has  been  the  selection  of 
missionaries  by  correspondence.  It  is  desirable  that  this  be 
avoided  as  far  as  possible.  In  the  fully  developed  Candidate 
Department  of  a  large  Board  it  would  probably  be  necessary  to 
have  associated  with  the  department  a  visiting  or  traveling 
secretary  in  the  person  of  some  alert  and  vigorous  young  man, 
preferably  a  detained  volunteer,  who  should  assist  the  secre- 
tary in  visiting  and  seeking  candidates.  There  should  also  be 
a  sufficient  stenographic  force  so  that  the  least  possible  delay 
would  occur  in  the  answering  of  letters,  the  collecting  of 
papers  and  the  appointment  of  missionaries. 

4.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  in  order  to  develop  a  Candi- 
date Department  along  these  lines  it  will  be  necessary  to  face 
the  question  ot  an  increased  budget  to  equip  the  department. 
Some  time  ago  I  made  a  study  of  the  added  expense  it  would 
be  to  our  own  Board  to  develop  a  department  such  as  I  have 
been  suggesting,  and  I  found  that  it  would  probably  require 
an  addition  to  our  budget,  including  the  salary  of  an  additional 

23 


The    Organlxatinii    aiul    A«1iiiiiiiNtr:iUou    of   the    Candidate    Department 

secretary  who  would  take  the  Candidate  Department,  of  be- 
tween $ii,ooo  and  $12,000.  This  seems  a  large  sum  but  con- 
sidering the  importance  of  the  problem  this  would  not  be  an 
undue  increase.  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  figures  to  buttress 
a  statement  which  I  am  about  to  make.  They  are  difficult  to 
gather  and  my  time  was  limited,  but  I  would  almost  be  willing 
to  say  that  the  saving  to  a  Hoard  in  a  more  careful  selection 
of  Candidates,  which  would  avoid  the  sending  out  of  those 
who  have  to  be  brought  back  because  physically  broken  or 
unadapted  to  the  work,  would  in  a  measure  off-set  the  in- 
creased expenditure.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  find  several 
instances  where  it  has  cost  the  Board  $1,000  which  could  have 
been  saved  had  the  selection  been  made  after  a  more  thorough 
understanding  of  the  candidate's  qualifications.  Of  course  all 
mistakes  cannot  be  avoided  even  with  the  organization  pro- 
posed. 

5.  I  feel  also  that  a  Board  should  face  the  problem  of  set- 
ting apart  a  small  fund  annually  in  its  appropriations  which 
could  be  used  for  the  special  training  of  candidates.  In  our 
own  church  and  others  there  are  such  funds  covering  specific 
cases  but  the  amounts  are  inadequate  and  they  are  often  given 
under  restrictions  which  somewhat  hamper  the  candidate. 

Not  only  would  such  a  fund  enable  the  Board  to  deal  with 
specific  cases  from,  the  financial  point  of  view  but  it  would  put 
the  Board  into  a  close  relationship  with  'a  candidate,  thus  re- 
vealing the  Board's  special  interest  in  the  Candidate.  It 
would  be  necessary  to  guard  against  the  abuse  of  any  such 
fund,  and  it  would  probably  be  wise  to  use  it  only  for  such  can- 
didates as  had  given  evidence  of  peculiar  fitness  for  the  work 
and  special  consecration,  and  probably  only  for  these  in  the 
latter  part  of  their  preparatory  work.  There  have  been  many 
times  in  my  experience  when  we  have  been  compelled  to  give 
a  negative  decision  to  a  man  on  purely  financial  grounds.  This 
could  have  been  avoided  if  we  had  had  the  funds  to  make 
possible  the  necessarv  training. 

6.  A  Candidate  Department  so  organized  would  enable  the 
secretary  of  the  Department  to  attend  far  more  regularly  on 
the  Conferences  of  young  people  and  students  than  at  present, 
especially  during  the  summer  when  students  are  gathered  to- 
gether in  large  numbers.  A  Candidate  secretary  would  also 
be  able  to  keep  in  closer  touch  with  the  schools  where  mission- 
aries are  trained  in  order  to  assist  these  schools  so  far  as  pos- 
sible in  coordinating  the  course  of  instruction  with  the  de- 
velopment work. 

7.  If  the  Candidate  Departments  of  the  Boards  were 
organized  in  this  way  there  should  be  a  greater  endeavor.to 
standardize  the  organizations  of  the  different  Candidate  De- 

^ 


The    Or^'siiiiKntioii    iiiul    A)liiiiiiis(r:iii<>ii    of    the    C'niididatc    Deptirtiiieiit 

partments  and  also  the  qualifications  of  the  missionaries,  so 
that  all  Boards  would  be  working  along  the  same  lines.  To 
do  this  there  should  be  at  least  an  annual  conference  of  Candi- 
date Department  secretaries  such  as  we  are  holding  here  at 
this  time.  There  is  vital  need  in  my  judgment  that  the  young 
men  in  the  schools  and  colleges  should  have  a  far  clearer  idea 
than  they  have  of  the  high  standard  which  ought  to  be  at- 
tained if  they  are  to  sei've  the  missions  boards  and  the  King- 
dom of  Christ  as  they  ought.  At  present  the  vision  which  a 
candidate  has  is  largely  dependent  upon  the  attitude  of  the 
individual  secretary  who  happens  to  talk  with  him.  That  sec- 
retary's opinion  is  often  determined  by  a  tremendovis  need  or 
an  especial  vacancy  and  urgent  plea  from  the  Mission  so  that 
he  is  tempted  to  relax  in  his  standards  and  judgment.  While 
this  may  sometimes  be  necessary,  there  is  room  for  a  general 
standardization  of  qualifications  which  all  the  mission  boards 
can  endeavor  to  attain. 

8.  In  addition  to  the  development  of  a  Candidate  Depart- 
ment and  adequate  equipment  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  every  Board  should  have  a  Candidate  Committee  of  its 
members.  The  medical  examiner  of  the  Board  should,  if  pos- 
sible, be  on  that  Committee.  This  Committee  should  meet  at 
stated  times.  Not  only  should  the  papers  be  read  by  individ- 
uals but  they  should  be  talked  over  in  the  Committee.  Special 
meetings  of  the  Committee  should  be  held  if  necessary.  The 
Committee  should  pass  not  only  upon  the  qualifications  but  it 
should  suggest  assignments  through  the  Candidate  Secretary 
who  is  in  his  turn  in  correspondence  with  the  Field. 

This  is  in  brief  compass  and  for  the  purpose  of  opening  our 
discussion  and  indicating  the  line  along  which  my  thoughts 
have  been  developing.  No  one  realizes  more  than  I  do  the 
many  difficulties  that  will  present  themselves  and  the  problems 
which  must  be  solved. 

III.  One  or  two  points  which  stand  out  in  my  mind  as  un- 
questionable are : 

1.  We  owe  it  to  the  Candidate  to  give  him  far  more  con- 
sideration and  counsel  than  at  the  present  time. 

2.  We  owe  it  to  the  foreign  mission  work  to  send  to  the 
field  men  specially  prepared  for  the  tasks. 

3.  We  owe  it  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  that,  in  the  New  Era 
toward  which  we  are  moving  so  rapidly,  a  new  and  better  pre- 
pared type  of  missionary  candidate  should  be  discovered. 

Early  in  the  War  I  came  across  a  circular  which  was  sent 
out  calling  for  candidates  for  the  aeroplane  sei'vice.  Some 
sentences  from  that  circular  will  interest  you: 


?5 


Tlio   rnndidiile   l)oi»!ir(inont 

YOU  CAN  FLY 

IF   YOU    MEFT    TUFSE    REQUIREMENTS 

A  flying  officer  must  be  between  19  and  30  years  of  age,  preferably 
under   25. 

He  must  represent  the  very  cream  of  young  American  manliood. 
He  must  be  really  a  superman,  for  it  costs  the  Government  $25,000 
to  put  an  aviator  over  the  German  lines. 

He  must  be  mentally  alert,  well  educated,  physically  perfect,  quick 
in  thought  and — cool  in  action.  Tliink  of  the  best  varsity  quarter- 
backs  you   know ;   they   are   the   right   type. 

He  has  been  correctly  defined  as  "A  Twentieth  Century  cavalry 
officer   mounted   on    Pegasus." 

He  must  be  mentally,  morally  and  physically  qualified  to  become 
an  officer  of  the  United   States  Army. 

For  more  information,  etc. 

Ought  we  not  as  those  who  have  been  called  to  deal  with 
the  spiritualizing  of  life  throughout  the  world  to  have  at 
least  as  high  ideals  as  those  who  are  selecting  men  for  the 
material  conflicts? 

Above  all,  ought  we  not  to  settle  this  whole  c|uestion  on  the 
basis  of  efficiency  and  the  aims  which  we  are  trying  to  accom- 
plish rather  than  to  be  held  back  or  determine  our  course  by 
financial  considerations  ? 

Tt  is  poor  policy  to  save  money  at  the  expense  of  efficiency 
and  thoroughness. 

DISCUSSION 

Dr.  Frank  K.  Sanders:  During  my  very  recent  tour  in  the  far  East 
I  asked  many  questions  of  young  missionaries,  not  very  far  away 
from  their  first  year  in  the  field,  concerning  their  experiences,  and 
what  they  would  have  to  say  out  of  that  experience  about  the  methods 
of  gaining,  of  discovering  and  of  training  candidates.  Almost  uni- 
formly they  emphasize  the  idea  of  the  personalisation,  of  the  process, 
feeling  that  the  one  experience  which  was  too  largely  omitted  during 
their  own  first  contact  with  tlie  problems  of  the  mission  field  was  a 
direct  and  continuous  contact  with  the  responsible  secretary.  They 
felt  that  it  would  have  meant  so  much  to  them,  in  most  cases,  could 
they  have  come  into  early  contact  with  the  secretary  of  their  Board 
who  was  to  follow  their  development  during  the  years  of  preparation. 

If  it  is  possible  for  us  to  follow  the  recommendations  of  these 
papers,  l)oth  with  regard  to  the  more  careful  organization  of  a  special 
Candidate  Committee,  charged  in  the  last  analysis  with  final  decisions, 
and  even  more  especially  with  the  setting  apart  of  a  responsible  secre- 
tary, whose  whole  attention  is  to  be  .given  to  the  general  subject  of 
the  discovery,  the  selection  and  the  management  of  candidates,  and 
who  will  be  enabled  by  the  conditions  under  which  he  works  actually 
to  give  his  own  {)ersonal  attention  to  them  one  by  one,  we  will  go 
far  in  solving  the  proI)lems  of  the  selection  and  training  of  candidates. 

Mr.  George  B.  Huntington:  Dr.  White  referred  to  the  possible  sav- 
ing to  the  Board  by  the  more  carefid  selection  of  candidates.  I  made 
a  study  of  that  for  our  own  Board  last  year  and  was  surprised,  I 
must  confess,  at  the  facts  which  came  to  the  surface.     Wiiile  they  are 

26 


The   Candidate   beimrtineiit 

not  absolutely  accurate,  tlicy  throw  light  on  this  very  point.  The 
American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society  sent  out  in  a  period  of 
twenty  years  233  new  missionaries.  When  I  made  this  investigation 
about  a  year  ago,  154  of  these  were  in  active  service  on  the  field. 
Between  50  and  55  had  served  less  than  one  full  term.  Out  of  45 
cases  which  I  looked  up  carefully  only  12  had  served  one  full  term, 
and  the  average  length  of  service  of  those  who  had  been  on  the 
held  less  than  one  term  was  3  years  and  8  months. 

As  I  studied  the  records  of  the  cases,  it  became  evident  in  as  many 
as  ten  or  fifteen  cases  that  a  more  thorough  process  in  the  selection 
of  the  candidate  (from  a  medical  point  of  view,  or  from  the  point 
of  view  of  his  general  preparation),  would  have  prevented  sending 
out  most  of  those  who  served  only  a  limited  period.  The  saving 
as  a  result  of  having  the  machinery  for  a  more  careful  study  of  can- 
didates would  have  been  from  sixty  to  seventy  thousand  dollars. 

This  is  not  in  criticism  of  what  was  done.  With  the  methods  and 
machinery  in  use  then,  no  other  results  could  have  been  secured. 
With  the  adequate  machinery  wliicli  Dr.  White  has  suggested  and 
which  we  ought  by  all  means  to  have  in  the  missionary  boards,  I 
am  confident  that  there  would  have  been  a  large  saving  in  actual  cash. 

The  other  point  which  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  the  importance  of 
giving  to  the  Candidate  Department  a  sufficient  staff  of  helpers,  so 
that  the  head  of  the  department  can  give  his  personal  attention  to 
the  questions  that  are  raised,  in  the  major  part  of  the  correspondence 
with  the  individual  candidates.  In  the  few  years  that  I  had  the 
candidate  correspondence  for  our  Board,  I  became  fully  persuaded 
that  a  man  with  other  things  as  his  chief  responsibility  simply  could 
not  give  the  necessary  attention  to  the  candidate  correspondence.  I 
am  glad  to  say  that  our  Board  has  seen  light  in  the  matter  and  has 
recently  appointed  Dr.  Lerrigo,  one  of  our  former  missionaries  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  as  our  Candidate  Secretary. 

Dr.  John  F.  Goucher:  I  would  like  to  make  three  suggestions, 
r.  The  most  difficult  problem,  possibly,  that  the  Secretary  will  find  will 
be  to  educate  the  Committee.  There  is  nothing  more  vitally  important. 
1  have  known  of  a  Committee  being  partially  educated  by  a  person 
selecting  publications  and  marking  certain  passages  in  them  which  he 
thought  would  be  particularly  helpful  to  the  individual,  and  sending  to 
him  personal  notes,  simply  stating  that  he  had  met  this  recently  and 
thought  it  would  interest  him.  That  was  done  unostentatiously  at 
various  times,  with  satisfactory  results. 

2.  I  think  it  would  be  eminently  wise  for  every  candidate  com- 
mittee to  have  a  standing  engagement  with  a  "Vocational  Council." 
There  are  men  who  give  their  whole  time  to  this  work.  At  consid- 
erable inconvenience  I  put  myself  in  touch  with  one  who  has  more 
than  a  national  reputation.  I  told  him  I  had  reached  a  point  in  life 
where  I  desired  to  know  if  there  was  anything  which  I  might  do 
that  was  worth  while  and  I  desired  him  to  tell  me  what  such  em- 
ployment might  be.  I  had  a  very  interesting  talk  with  him.  And  I 
only  suggest  that  I  was  convinced  that  this  man  knew  a  great  many 
things  which  would  seem  uncanny  to  a  person  who  didn't  know  how 
he  interpreted  facial  indications.  On  careful  inquiry  I  found  a  great 
many  officers  of  important  institutions  who  might  not  care  to  confess 
it,  but  they  do  this  very  thing.  At  very  moderate  expense,  every 
candidate  could  be  stirred  to  have  an  interview  with  a  special  Voca- 
tional  Council,  who  would  give  him   suggestions   as   to  his   aptitudes. 

3.  The  time  has  come  when  we  must  have  selective  draft,  and  I 
think  nothing  more  wise  than  to  have  a  secretary,  or  assistant  secre- 
tary, a  traveling  secretary,  whatever  you  wish  to  call  him,  preferably 
a    returned    missionary,    wise,    sympathetic,    full    of    information,    one 

27 


The  Candidnte  Department 

who  can  give  the  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  him,  and  let  him  go  into 
the  institutions  and  through  grace,  wisdom  and  prayer  discover  men 
who  have  leadership  in  tliem,  born  to  achieve.  Go  to  the  president  of 
an  institution  and  ask  him  who  arc  the  plus  men,  find  from  the  pro- 
fessors their  characteristics,  then  go  to  them  and  tell  them  their  en- 
dowment is  a  special  call  from  God  to  His  service,  appeal  to  the  heroic 
in  them.  We  must  have  a  selective  draft.  I  would  not  send  them  out 
if  they  were  not  earnest,  devout  Christian  men.  But  that  is  one  direct 
way  of  securing  their  consecration  to  God,  when  they  know  that  God 
who  gave  them  the  endowments,  is  now  asking  them  to  invest  their 
lives  in  His  service. 

Dr.  Cornelius  H.  Patton:  When  it  comes  to  a  final  decision  as  to 
whether  a  candidate  should  be  encouraged  or  discouraged,  there  is 
something  to  be  said  in  favor  of  placing  the  responsibility  with  a 
general  officer  of  the  board,  rather  than  one  who  is  exclusively  a 
Candidate  Secretary.  It  is  my  observation  that  correct  judgment  of 
men  rests  more  with  those  who  have  broad  and  varied  experiences 
with  men  rather  than  with  specialists.  Two  men  are  preeminently 
qualified  to  make  wise  .choices  of  leaders  because  their  success  de- 
pends absolutely  upon  such  wisdom.  They  are  the  college  president, 
and  the  head  of  a  big  business  corporation.  I  can  hardly  conceive  of  a 
college  president  delegating  the  selection  of  his  faculty  to  a  bureau 
or  official   designated   for  that   purpose. 

Mr.  Carnegie  frankly  states  that  he  considers  his  success  to  be  due 
largely  to  his  ability  to  choose  men,  to  gather  around  him  able  leaders 
as  heads  of  departments.  I  doubt  if  he  could  be  persuaded  to  commit 
the  matter  to  any  one  else.  The  reason  to  my  mind,  is  that  the  person 
who  makes  a  final  decision  of  this  kind,  needs  the  broad  training 
which  comes  from  being  a  man  of  affairs. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  Secretary  who  is  in  the  administration 
of  the  Board,  in  the  very  center  of  it,  who  knows  all  the  problems, 
knows  the  work  on  the  field,  who  comes  in  contact  with  the  men 
there,  whose  experience  is  the  broadest  possible  to  any  officer  of  the 
Board,  is  likely  to  have  more  sound  wisdom  than  one  who  is  set 
apart   exclusively  for  candidate   work. 

Some  of  the  best  judges  of  our  missionaries  are  not  secretaries  at 
all ;  they  are  business  men  on  our  Committees,  who  know  nothing 
about  the  technique  of  the  matter;  but  because  they  are  men  of  broad 
experience,  and  know  men,  their  judgment  is  invaluable.  I  have  in 
mind  one  particular  man,  whose  instinct  in  judging  men  was  almost 
uncanny.  I  have  lirought  before  him  candidates  whom  I  have  known 
for  years,  and  followed  along  with  very  great  care,  and  he  in  five 
minutes  would  be  able  to  give  a  judgment  which  I  would  feel  to  be 
sound.  Now,  it  was  because  of  his  broad  training,  and  it  had  be- 
come almost  an  instinct  with  him.  I  am  not  ready  to  admit  that  all 
the  arguments  are  on  the  side  of  exclusive  candidate  secretaries.  I 
would  go  this  far  and  say  that  I  think  there  should  be  at  least  one 
person  on  the  Board  who  does  nothing  else  but  attend  to  that  depart- 
ment, and  who  may  be  on  the  job  every  day  in  the  year,  so  that 
everything  shall  be  attended  to  promptly  and   efficiently. 

Dr.  Stanley  White:  I  am  wondering  if  in  writing  my  paper  hur- 
riedly I  opened  myself  to  the  interpretation  of  the  candidate  secretary's 
office  and  work  that  Dr.  Patton  has  put  upon  it.  I  thought  I  had  made 
it  clear  that  the  candidate  secretary  should  he  a  full-time  secretary  of 
the  Board,  that  he  siiould  be  in  correspondence  with  the  foreign  field, 
that  he  should  sit  with  full  power  of  voting  with  the  Executive  Staff 
of  the  Board,  and  as  far  as  having  the  slightest  thought  that  he  would 
not  be  one  of  the  head  secretaries  of  that  Board  and  have  a  position 
that  would  give  him  that  broad  vision  which  Dr.  Patton  has  described 

28 


Tlic   C'lindidiite   Deimrtiiicut 

as  necessary  for  final  decision,  nothing  was  further  from  my  thought. 
I  would  not  belittle  him,  I  would  magnify  him.  and  bring  him  up  to  the 
very  point  which  Dr.  Patton  has  spoken  of,  where  he  would  be  the 
man  who  would  be  qualified  by  his  broad  vision,  knowledge  and  study, 
to  make  those  decisions.  He  should  be  in  the  place  of  the  head  man 
of  the  business,  and  the  head  man  in  the  college  so  far  as  selecting 
men  is  concerned. 

Dr.  Charles  R.  Watson:  During  the  past  year,  through  the  request 
of  Dr.  Mott  that  I  cooperate  on  some  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  activities, 
I  have  been  very  much  engaged  in  some  of  the  problems  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  war  work,  and  in  the  beginning  of  this  year  of  cooperation 
there,  I  was  very  closely  related  to  the  personnel  division  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  war  work ;  in  other  words,  the  machinery  that  had  to 
do  with  the  selecting  of  secretaries  to  go  overseas.  Some  of  these 
secretaries  were  for  the  American  Army,  some  of  them  were  for  the 
French  Army,  some  for  the  Italian,  some  for  the  Russian,  and  some 
for  smaller  areas  of  work,  and,  as  I  was  seated  here  listening  to  the 
discussion  of  our  candidate  problems  in  the  missionary  sphere,  it  seemed 
to  me  that  I  had  learned  some  lessons,  or  at  least  had  received  some 
suggestions  out  of  this  almost  unique  experience,  to  me  altogether 
unique,  of  dealing  with  the  personnel  problem  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
war  work.  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  really  Jiad  time  to  lay  hold 
of  my  deepest  impressions,  but  I  thought  it  might  be  interesting  just  to 
emphasize  a  few. 

In  the  first  place,  one  lesson  we  learned  was  that  we  could  only 
secure  the  secretaries  we  needed  in  quantity  and  in  quality  by  a  process 
of  decentralization.  The  effort  to  discover  from  one  single  office 
the  secretaries  that  were  needed  proved  to  be  absolutely  impossible. 
You  could  not  get  the  numbers  that  way  and  you  could  not  come 
near  enough  to  the  candidate  to  be  able  truly  to  estimate  his  character 
and  his  worth.  When  we  were  in  the  middle  of  the  year  of  the  war, 
it  was  found  to  be  necessary,  therefore,  to  scrap  the  old  machinery 
for  recruiting  that  was  planned  on  a  centralized  basis,  and  to  get  up 
new   recruiting   machinery   on   a   decentralized   basis. 

At  each  of  these  centers  there  was  set  up  a  fully  organized  office 
with-  the  Candidate  Secretaries  necessary  to  handle  the  large  number 
of  applicants  from  that  District.  Keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  we 
had  to  secure  nearly  300  men  each  week.  It  had  to  be  done  quickly. 
There  was  no  time  for  delay.  The  men  had  to  get  to  these  great 
armies  overseas. 

Now,  I  have  wondered  whether  our  missionary  candidate  depart- 
ments are  not  too  greatly  centralized ;  whether  really  from  New  York 
or  from  Philadelphia,  without  very  marked  aid  of  committees  or  at 
least  of  individuals  throughout  the  country,  we  can  really  discover 
an  adequate  number  of  men  and  women,  and  whether  discovering  men 
and   women   in   numbers,   we   can   estimate   their   worth   as   we   should. 

The  second  lesson  learned  was  the  need  of  a  trained  recruiting 
agent  or  agency.  There  was  the  greatest  difference  in  the  quality  of  the 
men  that  were  sent  up  to  New  York,  when  you  compared  the  output 
of  different  areas,  the  output  of  different  recruiting  committees.  There 
were  certain  committees  that  had  discovered  what  we  wanted,  that  had 
set  up  standards  that  were  worth  while,  and  the  material  that  came 
from  these  committees,  or  from  these  areas  could  almost  be  accepted 
without  further  examination,  while  there  were  pretty  good  chances 
that  you  would  need  to  reject  a  large  proportion  of  the  material  that 
came  from  other  areas.  Now,  if  we  are  going  to  adopt  a  decentralized 
plan,  if  we  are  going  to  have  throughout  the  country  those  who  will 
recruit  for  us  along  missionary  lines,  we  will  need  not  _  simply  to 
appoint  them  or  write  letters  and  ask  them  to  serve  us  in  this  capacity, 

29 


Tlie   r:iii<li«ln<c    l)c|iar(  incut 

but  we  will  need  really  to  train  them,  giving  them  some  very  definite 
information  as  to  the  type  of  man  and  woman  that  we  want. 

A  third  lesson  learned  was  that  we  needed  to  define  our  task  more 
closely.  In  the  beginning  of  the  war  work  we  simply  called  for  secre- 
taries^ It  was  a  most  indefinite  term.  It  wasn't  long  before  they  began 
to  cable  to  us  from  France  the  types  of  men  that  they  wanted,  and  tiic 
cables  would  come  each  week,  "Send  so  many  general  hut  secretaries, 
so  many  men  with  capacity  to  be  divisional  secretaries,  so  many  men  to 
be  motormen,  so  many  to  operate  the  movies,  so  many  accountants."  In 
other  words,  we  really  came  down  to  the  point  of  defining  the  task 
specifically,  and  then  the  results  increased  in  value  very,  very  greatly. 
The  response  to  the  appeal  was  largely  in  proportion  as  we  defined  the 
task  more  definitely.  Men  who  hadn't  dared  to  offer  themselves  for 
certain  types  of  service  came  to  light  when  these  new  tasks  were  de- 
fined and  set  before  them. 

And  then,  lastly,  I  want  to  emphasize  this  point,  the  necessity  of 
taking  risk.  I  sometimes  think  that  we  halt  and  hesitate,  as  candidate 
secretaries,  to  the  point  where  we  are  unwilling  to  take  any  chances 
at  all ;  we  require  the  candidate  to  present  a  hundred  per  cent,  of  cer- 
tainty to  us  that  he  is  going  to  make  good  for  the  particular  task.  Now, 
we  ought  to  take  a  risk;  we  will  never  get  enough  men  and  women 
without  taking  risks.  It  is  a  small  matter  to  take  a  man  across  the 
sea,  and  then  recall  him,  if  he  proves  unsuitable  after  due  trial ;  of 
course,  we  ought  to  be  ready  to  recall  men  and  women.  It  seems 
to  me  better  to  risk  sending  out  a  few  who  have  to  be  recalled  than 
to  fail  to  discover  some  who  are  worth  while  because  we  were  unwill- 
ing to  take  a  chance.  Now,  I  do  not  mean  that  we  shjiU  take  any 
chances  at  the  point  of  moral  character  or  Christian  experience.  I  am 
referring  to  missionary  gifts.  Furthermore  we  must  be  relentless 
in  recalling  the  unsatisfactory  type.  In  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  war  work  we 
have  told  the  executive  secretaries  overseas  to  send  back  the  men  who 
were  found  so  imperfect  that  they  were  no  longer  an  asset,  but  a 
liability,  and  they  have  sent  them  back.  But  on  the  whole  I  do  not 
regret"  our  having  followed  this  policy  even  though  it  has  involved 
sending  home  a  numlier  of  men,  for  after  all  in  every  task  there  must 
be  an  element  of  experiment,  and  many  a  man  finds  himself  when 
you  try  to  find  him  out  in  the  work. 

These  are  simply  some  impressions  that  have  come  to  me,  out  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  war  work,  and  its  personnel  machinery.  Remember, 
we  had  to  discover  250  men  a  week.  It  was  a  marvelous  achievement 
to  find  these  men  in  such  numbers  and  get  them  through  all  the 
formalities  of  passports  and  equipments  and  general  coaching, — things 
that  we,  in  missionary  circles,  would  take  weeks  and  weeks  for,  were 
done  in  an  hour.  We  never  thought  to  write  a  letter,  we  always  sent 
a  telegram  to  call  the  man  in,  and  there  was  a  haste  and  speed  that 
I  sometimes  think  we  might  well  copy  in  our  Board  administration, 
for  I  remember  how  some  of  our  candidates  have  reproached  us  with 
the  fact  that  it  takes  weeks  and  even  months,  at  times,  for  them  to 
get  decisive  replies  from  our  mission  boards, 

Mr.  F.  P.  Turner:  I  would  like  to  ask  Dr.  \Vatson  if  each  one  of 
these  centers  he  refers  to  was  not  a  well  organized  bureau  in  itself, 
with  the  necessary  committees  and  secretaries  in  charge? 

Dr.  Watson:  It  was.  The  plan  in  the  terms  of  our  Boards  simply 
means  that  the  Y.  INI.  C.  A.  War  Work  Council  had  greatly  multiplied 
its  candidate  machinery,  and  instead  of  having  one  candidate  commit- 
tee and  the  secretaries  necessary  in  charge  of  the  work,  there  were 
several  committees  and  many  candidate  secretaries  giving  all  llicir  lime 
to  the  work. 

Miss  Nellie  G-  Prescott:    It  may  l)e  of  interest  for  me  to  report  for 

30 


The   Cnudidate   Depart iiieiit 

the  Woman's  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society  tliat  our  candidate 
department  is  linked  very  closely  with  our  Foreign  Department,  that 
for  the  last  two  years  and  a  half  we  have  had  a  candidate  secretary, 
who  has  given  the  major  part  of  her  time  to  this  work  and  that  for 
the  last  year  we  have  had  a  candidate  committee  through  which  the 
candidate  secretary  has  worked,  and  the  two  have  reported  back  to  our 
Foreign  Department.  I  think  we  all  feel  that  the  candidate  committee 
is  a  very  great  advantage,  and  we  are  really  doing  more  efficient  work 
because  we  have  a  candidate  committee.  I  should  like  to  say  also 
that  three  of  the  members  of  the  candidate  committee  were  appointed 
delegates  to  this  Conference  and  they  are  present. 

Mr.  George  B.  Huntington:  Our  Board  is  a  recent  convert — per- 
haps that  wouldn't  be  quite  a  fair  expression  either — but  I  think  our 
experience  has  been  something  along  this  line  :  The  Board  has  hesi- 
tated on  the  ground  of  expense,  for  one  thing.  We  have  a  fairly  large 
secretarial  expense  to  start  with,  ard  to  add  another  secretary  for  this 
specific  work  seemed  to  involve  a  considerable  increase  in  expense  at 
a  time  when,  as  some  of  you  may  know,  our  denomination  has  had 
more  or  less  criticism  of  the  Board  on  the  matter  of   home  expense. 

Another  prolilem  which  the  Board  faced,  I  think,  was  the  question 
as  to  whether  it  was  better  to  have  a  man  who  was  in  a  way  dis- 
associated from  other  departments  of  the  work.  That  idea  certainly 
was  presented,  that  is,  that  the  Candidate  Secretary  should  have  this 
work  as  his  only  task;  he  should  be  in  a  department  by  himself,  so  to 
speak.  I  think  our  solution  is,  from  our  point  of  view,  the  wise  one; 
viz.,  to  relate  the  Candidate  Secretary  to  the  Foreign  Department  in 
such  a  way  that  he  will  understand  very  fully  and  intelligently  the 
work  in  the  field,  the  needs  of  the  field,  the  qualifications  which  the 
candidate  should  have  from  the  missionary  point  of  view,  and  at  the 
same  time  be  free  enough  from  other  responsibilities  so  that  he  can, 
as    Mr.   Turner   said,   make   this   his   major   responsibility. 


31 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  CANDIDATE  DE- 
PARTMENT TO  THE  CANDIDATE 

1.    GUIDING  THE  PROSPECTIVE  CANDIDATE 

By  Miss  Helen  B.  Calder,  Boston 

I  would  emphasize,  first,  the  importance  of  the  earhest  pos- 
sible contact  with  the  candidate.  For  most  of  us  this  comes 
as  names  are  received  from  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
or  as  we  hold  conferences  with  young  people  concerning  their 
life  work. 

A  great  deal  of  this  contact  has  to  be  by  correspondence  in 
the  case  of  Boards  whose  territory  covers  the  whok  country, 
but  it  is  most  important  that  it  should  not  all  be  by  correspond- 
ence. It  should  be  primarily  not  official  but  personal.  That 
takes  a  great  deal  more  time  than  official  contact,  but  it  means 
everything  to  the  candidate  and  to  the  Candidate  Secretary. 
As  the  years  go  on,  very  personal  problems  may  arise,  and  if 
the  candidate  naturally  turns  to  the  Candidate  Secretary  for 
help  in  solving  these  problems,  a  great  deal  of  trouble  may  be 
avoided. 

The  Candidate  Secretary  should  enter  sympathetically  into 
the  experiences  of  the  candidate,  which  are  probably  the  great- 
est that  have  come  to  him  up  to  that  time,  both  in  enthusiasm 
for  a  new  task  and  in  consecration  for  life  service.  While 
guarding  sacredly  the  new  enthusiasm,  it  is  the  business  of  the 
Candidate  Secretary  to  see  clearly  that  the  candidate  has  the 
right  conception  of  the  work  to  which  he  has  committed  him- 
self. The  day  is  passing,  but  I  do  not  believe  it  has  yet  passed, 
when  the  young  student  volunteers  with  an  entirely  wrong  con- 
ception of  what  missionary  work  really  is,  and  it  is  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Candidate  Secretary  to  make  clear  what  that  work 
is,  without  in  any  way  abating  the  enthusiasm  of  the  candidate 
in  his  anticipation  of  it. 

The  Candidate  Secretary  must  have  before  him  the  thought, 
— perhaps  this  candidate  will  not  be  accepted  after  all, — for  it 
is  impossible  always  to  tell,  when  you  get  in  touch  with  a  young 
person  in  high  school,  as  some  of  us  do,  whether  that  person 
is  to  be  fitted  for  missionary  service  or  not.  But  if  we  have  in 
mind  all  through  our  years  of  personal  contact  with  a  young 
student  the  fact  that  devotion  to  the  missionary  cause  is  a  mat- 
ter of  spirit  and  not  of  place,  if  the  time  comes,  as  it  will  to 

32 


The   Relation   of  tlic   Cnudidale   Department   to   the   Candidate 

many  of  these  young  people,  when  we  must  guide  them  to  find 
their  place  of  expressing  that  devotion  at  the  home  end,  it  will 
be  easy. 

The  turning  down  of  a  candidate  does  sometimes  mean  a 
loss  of  support  to  the  mission  cause,  but  if  we  can  hold  the 
interest  and  devotion  of  the  young  people  whom  we  are  unable 
to  appoint  as  missionaries  we  have  gained  a  most  effective  class 
of  supporters  in  the  church  at  home.  No  one  is  more  success- 
ful in  arousing  the  enthusiasm  of  others  in  the  missionary 
enterprise,  especially  of  }oung  people,  than  th-e  one  who  has 
himself  the  world  vision  and  has  offered  himself  for  life 
service.  If  h-e  is  unable  to  go  himself  he  may  be  the  means  of 
securing  other  recruits. 

The  candidate,  as  soon  as  he  decides  to  be  a  missionary,  de- 
sires concrete  information  concerning  vacancies  in  the  field. 
If  he  is  only  a  freshman  in  college  or  still  in  high  school 
it  is  impossible  to  tell  him  what  the  vacancy  will  be  which  he 
is  to  fill,  but  I  have  found  it  a  great  help,  even  for  such 
younger  students,  to  be  able  to  put  into  their  hands  definite 
statements  of  ■existing  vacancies.  So  I  have  collected,  by 
correspondence  with  our  missionaries,  statements  which  I 
have  in  mimeographed  form  to  put  into  the  hands  of  any 
candidates  or  any  who  are  in  touch  with  candidates.  On  these 
slips:  we  have  the  general  requirements  for  the  particular 
position,  the  statement  of  what  the  vacancy  is,  the  terms  of  the 
contract,  some  facts  about  the  location  and  environment  and 
the  conditions  under  which  the  missionary  will  work,  and 
concrete  information  about  the  institution,  the  school  or  the 
hospital  or  the  Bible  training  school,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  a 
brief  bibliography.  This  supplies  candidates  who  are  nearing 
the  time  of  their  appointment  with  the  list  of  actual  vacan- 
cies, one  of  which  this  particular  candidate  may  be  able  to 
fill,  but  it  also  provides  more  concrete  information  than  most 
of  our  students  have  about  actual  work  in  the  field. 

In  order  to  guide  the  candidates  properly  the  Candidate 
Secretary  must  also  have  knowledge  of  the  educational  insti- 
tutions here  at  home,  especially  those  for  definite  training 
after  college  work.  The  Secretary  must  also  be  in  touch  with 
the  changing  conditions  in  home  standards  of  education.  It 
is  impossible  for  one  person  to  possess  all  this  information, 
and  so  the  Candidate  Committee  or  the  Board  should  have  on 
its  membership,  or  available  for  consultation,  educational  ex- 
perts, medical  men  and  women,  who  can  be  consulted  concern- 
ing th-e  best  places  to  secure  special  preparation. 

Some  of  the  candidates  who  are  brought  to  our  attention 
are  older  and  will  not  have  the  time  to  get  training  which  they 
have  not  already  secured.     One  of  the  problems  which  some 

33 


Tiip    rtolsiUoii    of   llif    (':iiidi«1ate    I)4'|»:ir<iiM*ii<    tit    llie   C'iiii<lltln<e 

of  US  fac€  is  what  to  do  with  such  candidates  who  have  not 
had  the  equivalent  of  a  college  course.  We  can  not  say  that 
such  candidates  should  be  turned  down,  but  it  is  true  that 
some  of  them  must  secure  more  training.  Guidance  in  such 
cases  is  very  difficult  and  can  best  be  based  on  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  candidate's  home  environment  and 
natural  abilities. 

We  should  emphasize  with  younger  candidates  the  impor- 
tance of  securing  an  all  round  college  education.  We  wish  to 
give  advice,  when  desired,  as  to  selection  of  majors  and 
minors  in  college,  but  I  believe  it  is  pretty  safe  to  leave  to  the 
candidate  the  planning  of  his  college  course,  -especially  if  in 
his  hands  are  the  pamphlets  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prep- 
aration, which  give  valuable  suggestions  along  this  line. 

It  is  important  for  the  candidate  to  consider  what  special 
type  of  missionary  work  he  will  undertake ;  that  is,  he  must 
decide  between  evangelistic  work,  medical  work,  social 
service,  or  some  form  of  educational  work.  If  he  decides  for 
educational  work  before  he  leaves  college  he  must  again  de- 
cide which  form  of  educational  work  he  wishes  to  undertake. 
That  is  especially  true  of  the  woman  candidate  who  must 
choose  between  kindergarten,  primary,  normal,  or  college 
training,  in  order  to  decide  what  she  shall  do  after  leaving 
college,  and  perhaps  just  here  the  candidate  seeks  guidance 
which  can  be  of  the  greatest  value.  The  secretary  knows  the 
vacancies  on  the  field  which  must  be  filled,  also  the  type  of 
work  most  needed,  and  if  the  candidate  has  no  special  leaning 
toward  one  form,  for  example,  of  educational  work  more  than 
another,  pressure  can  be  brought  to  bear  to  prepare  for  the 
work  that  is  most  needed  on  the  field. 

I  wish  that  we  might  put  more  stress  on  evangelistic  work, 
under  a  new  name  if  necessary,  because  I  believe  the  openings 
on  the  missionary  field  for  what  I  like  to  call  Christian  social 
service  are  going  to  be  increasingly  larger  in  the  years  ahead. 
The  ordinary  candidate  has  absolutely  no  conception  of  evan- 
gelistic work,  or  a  wrong  conception  if  he  thinks  he  has 
one.  In  talking  with  one  of  our  missionaries  from  Japan 
quite  recently,  who  wants  a  number  of  new  evangelistic  work- 
ers for  Japan,  I  said,  "It  is  so  hard  to  get  college  women  who 
want  to  do  that  sort  of  thing;  they  want  to  go  out  for  educa- 
tional work,  or  for  music,  or  some  other  form  of  sei-vice." 
"Well,  tell  them  to  come  for  educational  work,"  she  replied ; 
"call  it  that  if  you  want  to,  for  we  are  teaching  all  the  time." 
She  went  on  to  show  that  any  specialty  such  as  hygiene  or 
domestic  science  or  music  could  be  the  entering  wedge  for  a 
large  Christian  social  service.  I  wish  in  these  larger  days 
that  are  ahead  for  our  missionary  work  we  might  have  in  mind 

34 


Thv    lielntioii   «>f   (lif   ( 'iinilidiite    Uepsirdneut    to    the    Candidnte 

some  way  for  presentint^  the  call  for  Christian  social  service, 
to  young  women  especially,  in  order  that  we  may  gain  the 
college   women   who   are   wanting   to   do   that   sort   of    thing. 

There  is  the  big  opportunity  before  the  candidate  secretary 
to  guide  the  general  reading  of  candidates.  It  is  hoped  that 
students  who  do  not  take  a  theological  course  may  have  some 
theological  and  much  special  biblical  training,  but  not  all  of 
them  will  be  able  to  get  such  special  training,  and  it  is  im- 
portant that  through  this  reading,  which  we  can  direct,  they 
may  get  some  idea  of  the  theological  problems  of  the  day,  so 
that  they  will  not  be  untrained  in  that  very  important  sub- 
ject. 

At  every  stage  of  our  contact  with  the  candidate,  we  have 
the  opportunity  to  guide  in  the  physical  preparation,  to  bring 
before  the  candidate  the  physical  standards  of  the  Board,  and 
to  advise  as  to  ways  in  which  the  standard  may  be  achieved. 

As  we  are  facing  to-day  the  great  new  task  which  is  the 
same  old  task,  only  with  larger  significance,  we  are  finding 
young  men  and  young  women  who  have  a  new  conception  of 
service.  We  are  dealing  with  young  people  who  want  to  do  big 
things,  and  who  want  to  do  hard  things.  One  of  the  most 
important  tasks  before  not  only  the  candidate  secretary,  but 
all  the  officers  and  workers  in  our  Board  administration,  is 
to  bring  this  same  old  task  into  the  large  place  which  it  ought 
to  have,  which  it  has  had  in  our  minds,  which  it  has  to-day 
for  the  first  time  in  tlie  minds  of  many  people.  We  must  make 
students  see  that  reconstruction  and  world  brotherhood  are 
simply  new  names  for  this  great  task,  and  that  we  are  asking 
them  to  give  themselves  to  that,  and  that  no  preparation  is 
too  difficult  to  make  them  fit  to  achieve  their  share  in  that 
big  task. 

2.    SELECTING  THE  CANDIDATES 

Bv  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Donohugh.  New  York 

To  insure  the  selection  of  satisfactory  candidates  it  is 
essential  that  there  should  be  ( i )  close  cooperation  between 
the  Boards  and  the  forces  on  the  field,  (2)  a  careful  study  of 
the  candidates  who  are  available  or  an  adequate  search  for 
those  required,  and  (3)  sufficient  time  in  which  to  make 
selections  upon  whose  appropriateness  we  may  rely. 

Our  difTficulties  come  very  largely  from  our  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  exact  need  on  the  one  hand  and  of  our  candidates 
on  the  other,  together  with  an  urgency  of  demand  and  a 
shortness  of  time  with  which   we  are  all  too  familiar.     The 

35 


The    I{<-I:i(i4>ii   of   Hic   Cnndidiilo    Dcpiirtiiioiit    <o   the   Candidate 

dangers  are  that  we  shall  act  hastily  and  send  some  one  out 
whom  we  do  nof  really  know,  because  "he  is  the  best  person 
available." 

It  should  be  evident  that  work  which  requires  such  a  com- 
prehensive knowledge  of  conditions  on  the  field  and  needs 
and  also  of  the  character  and  qualifications  of  men  and  women 
cannot  be  handled  as  a  side  issue  nor  in  the  spare  time  of  a 
busy  Secretary  who  has  no  spare  time.  Certainly  no  one  who 
has  tried  to  do  the  work  would  say  so.  The  amount  of  work 
involved  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  nvmiber  of  candidates 
required  each  year,  but  the  character  of  the  task  requires  a 
specialist  whatever  else  he  may  do. 

On  the  whole,  past  methods  have  not  yielded  satisfactory 
results.  Most  Boards  report  a  scarcity  in  the  supply  of  really 
good  candidates  together  with  an  alarming  increase  in  the 
amount  of  correspondence  which  yields  little  in  results.  This 
may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  majority  of  Boards  depend 
only  upon  those  who  volunteer  their  services,  whereas  modern 
conditions  make  it  clear  that  this  method  must  be  supple- 
mented by  going  out  after  the  men  and  women  who  -have 
the  qualifications  required.  The  competition  of  business 
and  the  professions,  of  other  forms  of  Christian  work  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  of  "near  Christian"  types  of  service  draws 
heavily  upon  the  kind  of  men  and  women  we  want.  One  of 
the  Secretaries  who  is  devoting  himself  to  this  line  of  service 
stated  at  a  similar  gathering,  after  making  a  study  of  modern 
business  methods,  that  he  "was  convinced  that  his  Board  was 
using  methods  which  were  perfectly  good  twenty  years  ago." 

Those  who  go  in  and  out  among  the  thousands  of  splendid 
young  men  and  women  in  our  Colleges  and  other  institutions 
know  that  there  is  no  real  scarcity  of  material.  Never  were 
there  so  many  students  eager  for  wise  investment  of  life,  seek- 
ing large  endeavor,  ready  for  self-sacrifice,  for  heroic  tasks. 
This  was  true  before  we  entered  the  war.  How  much  more 
true  it  is  now  when  hundreds  of  thousands  of  our  youth  had 
prepared  themselves  for  the  supreme  sacrifice  only  to  find 
themselves  halted  at  the  very  moment  of  greatest  intensity 
and  eagerness.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  the  need  of  a  world  is  put 
before  them,  the  challenge  of  an  o]iportunity  for  a  life  of  un- 
selfish devotion  which  may  well  command  all  their  awakened 
powers  and  ideals. 

Many  Boards  have  accumulated  long  lists  of  applications  of 
which  no  careful  study  or  comparison  has  been  made.  It 
should  be  the  business  of  some  one  to  go  over  these  cases,  to 
secure  the  necessary  information  from  competent  advisers, 
to  sort  out  those  who  are  worth}-  of  consideration,  and  to  reach 
a  decision  as  to  their  acceptability.     The  same  policy  should 

36 


The   RelnUoii   of  the   Caiiilidiite    Depaftinout   to   ilie   Ciiutlirtate 

be  pursued  with  new  applications  as  they  come  in  and  with  new 
volunteers  as  they  register  their  decisions.  Too  much  em- 
phasis cannot  be  laid  upon  the  importance  of  early,  thorough 
and  conclusive  action  in  dealing  with  the  material  at  hand 
and  in  using  this  material  to  the  best  advantage. 

Such  lists  of  applicants  shrink  when  thus  studied.  The 
number  of  candidates  available  for  any  one  year  will  almost 
surely  be  found  to  be  far  short  of  the  number  required,  and 
even  less  satisfactory  when  compared  with  the  list  of  needs. 
Our  Boards  are  ever  searching  for  persons  who  are  qualified 
for  certain  positions  for  which  adequately  prepared  applicants 
are  lacking.    The  medical  situation  is  a  case  in  point. 

On  the  other  hand  many  Boards  lack  acceptable  candidates 
because  they  have  not  made  the  necessary  effort  to  train  and 
develop  the  material  which  offered  itself.  It  is  amazing  how 
candidates  grow  when  wisely  led  through  four  years  of  col- 
lege and  subsequent  years  of  special  training.  Have  we  done 
our  share  to  make  them  fit? 

If  the  selection  of  candidates  is  to  be  a  source  of  satisfac- 
tion we  must  find  ways  of  increasing  our  lists,  and  our  store 
of  knowledge  concerning  those  whose  training  we  should  direct 
and  to  whom  we  may  turn  in  each  case  of  need  as  it  arises. 
This  involves  getting  out  into  the  places  where  candidates  of 
the  right  sort  may  be  met  and  where  the  atmosphere  is  fav- 
orable to  missions. 

Without  doubt  the  International  Conventions  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  would  rank  first  in  their  direct  influence 
upon  the  leading  students  of  each  quadrennium.  The  Summer 
Conferences  of  the  Student  Movement  are  a  close  second,  and 
offer  large  opportunity  to  the  Secretaries  of  the  Boards  to  meet 
choice  students  who  are  giving  time  enough  to  settle  the  great 
questions  of  life  service  and  to  help  them  to  choose  wisely.  The 
week-end  Conferences  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement, 
the  Summer  Conferences  of  the  Missionary  Education  Move- 
ment, and  the  increasing  number  of  Summer  Institutes  of  the 
Young  People's  Societies  also  touch  young  life  when  it  is 
most  open  and  responsive,  and  all  these  are  open  to  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Mission  Boards.  Arrangements  should 
also  be  made  either  by  the  Secretaries  or  their  representatives 
to  visit  the  colleges,  the  seminaries,  the  mission  training 
schools,  and  the  graduate  schools  in  the  universities.  If  ade- 
quate preparations  are  made  in  advance  these  visits  can  become 
very  profitable. 

One  Secretary  in  a  tour  lasting  three  weeks  interviewed 
more  than  175  persons,  of  whom  130  were  well  worth  following 
up.  Several  vacant  posts  were  filled  as  a  direct  result.  An- 
other tour  in  three   states  yielded  over  200  interviews   with 

37 


The   Relation   of  the   Ciindidate   Department    to   the   Candidate 

similar  results.  Visits  to  student  centers  have  a  direct  rela- 
tion to  the  matter  of  selection.  They  give  the  Secretary  an 
unusually  valuable  opj^ortunity  not  only  to  become  acquainted 
personally  with  the  candidates  but  to  study  their  records. 

The  reference  system  in  general  use  is  far  from  satisfactory. 
Some  way  must  be  found  to  arrive  at  a  more  accurate  estimate 
of  the  ability  and  character  of  a  candidate  than  is  provided 
by  these  white-washed  and  sometimes  misleading  statements 
of  prejudiced  friends.  The  references  given  by  the  applicant 
should  be  used  merely  as  a  starting  point.  Each  IJoard  should 
have  its  own  correspondents  to  whom  it  writes  for  reports  on 
applicants.  But  when  visiting  a  college  the  Secretary  has  the 
opportunity  to  secure  the  judgment  of  faculty  members,  the 
student  pastors,  the  secretaries  and  presidents  of  the  Christian 
Associations,  the  leader  of  the  Volunteer  Band  and,  perhaps 
most  valuable  of  all,  of  other  fellow  students.  One  who  is 
cordially  recommended  by  all  of  these  counselors  is  a  safe 
proposition  to  follow  up,  and  this  care  and  attention  are 
needed  if  we  are  to  hold  the  confidence  of  the  student  body. 
The  reaction  from  the  choice  of  a  candidate  may  be  such  as 
to  open  -or  to  close  the  door  to  the  desirable  students  of  an 
institution  for  a  generation.  The  same  is  true  of  the  can- 
didate with  reference  to  his  home  church  and  community,  and 
where  he  has  been  employed.  If  we  will  but  limit  our  selec- 
tions to  those  who  have  the  complete  respect  and  loyalty  of 
their  friends  wherever  they  have  been,  we  will  simplify  and 
lighten  greatly  the  burden  of  the  su])port  of  the  missionaries 
whom  we  send  out  to  the  field. 

For  successful  work  among  students  the  Secretary  must 
be  in  a  position  to  give  clear  and  definite  [)resentation  of  the 
posts  on  the  field  which  are  to  be  filled.  He  should  be  able  to 
present  the  work  in  its  larger  relationships  as  well  as  in  some 
detail.  The  student  is  not  stirred  very  deeply  by  the  sug- 
gesticjn  of  the  need  of  a  missionary  for  Bombay  or  a  teacher 
of  mathematics  for  Santiago.  He  wants  to  think  of  the 
evangelization  of  the  masses  of  India,  the  redemption  of 
Africa,  the  need  of  modern  medicine  in  China,  or  the  develop- 
ment of  an  educational  system  for  Chile.  Show  him  how  he 
can  fit  into  such  a  program  and  invest  his  whole  life  and  ex- 
perience and  he  will  listen  to  your  suggestions  both  for  the 
general  and  tlie  specific  preparation  involved. 

The  vSecretary  must  be  i)repared  for  this.  The  increase  of 
specialization  in  our  c(jlleges  makes  it  necessary  to  study  how 
to  adapt  it  to  conditions  abroad.  The  student  must  be  prepared 
for  life  as  a  whole  for  he  may  not  be  able  to  go  to  the  field 
or  to  remain  there.  This  makes  it  necessary  to  have  very  close 
cooperation  between    the   mission   field   and    the   home   office. 

38 


The   Relatiou   of   tlio   <'siii<li<liitf    Depiirlnient    to   the    Caiididnte 

In  the  majority  of  cases  tlie  requests  for  reenforcements  which 
come  in  are  lacking  in  deliniteness.  We  are  asked  to  send 
teachers  or  doctors  and  the  first  intimation  of  a  special  need 
may  come  in  the  form  of  a  comi)laint  as  to  why  we  send  out  a 
teacher  of  English  when  they  wanted  a  teacher  of  science. 

Again  the  requests  for  immediate  reenforcements  from  the 
fields  frequently  come  in  too  late.  They  do  not  recognize  the 
fact  that  teachers  in  this  country  sign  their  contracts  for 
the  coming  year  in  March  and  April  and  that  only  the  un- 
desirables are  left  over  until  the  summer.  Requests  are  sent 
in  in  June  urgently  calling  for  reenforcements  for  China  by 
September,  and,  of  course,  "only  the  best  are  wanted  for 
China,"  but  these  ignore  the  fact  that  the  seminaries  and 
colleges  have  closed  and  the  best  students  have  long  since 
made  their  arrangements  for  the  year  ahead. 

For  successful  work  in  the  colleges  and  seminaries  and  for 
satisfactory  selection  of  candidates,  the  Secretaries  of  the 
Boards  should  have  their  lists  oj  needs  well  in  hand  before 
November  first,  in  order  to  utilize  the  winter  months  for 
selection  and  appropriate  action  in  order  that  the  candidates 
needed  may  be  reserved  and  have  ample  time  in  which  to 
make  their  preparation  for  departure. 

When  should  candidates  be  selected?  The  easiest  time  to 
secure  choice  candidates  for  missionary  service  is  during  the 
last  year  in  college  and  seminary,  before  arrangements  have 
been  made  for  the  future.  A  definite  understanding  should 
be  sought  at  that  time  before  advising  further  or  special 
preparation  for  the  field.  The  student  may  assume  that  he 
will  be  accepted  if  he  follows  the  advice  given,  and  it  is 
positively  unfair  to  reject  him  later  on  grounds  which  could 
and  should  have  been  discovered  before  the  advice  was  given. 
For  example,  a  candidate  was  encouraged  to  put  in  several 
years  of  preparation  for  a  field,  only  to  be  rejected  later  on 
account  of  deafness;  another  advised  to  prepare  for  India, 
when  a  careful  medical  examination  would  have  made' it  clear 
that  she  could  not  maintain  her  health  in  that  climate. 

Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  upon  the  value  of  an 
early  and  thorough  medical  examination,  perhaps  repeated 
from  year  to  year.^  This  would  enable  many  to  prepare  physi- 
cally as  well  as  in  other  ways,  and  lead  to  better  selection  with 
regard  to  the  field  or  climate.  The  Board  and  Candidate  alike 
need  the  information  such  a  course  provides. 

W'herever  possible  official  action  should  be  taken  at  least 

'  For  Boards  which  have  no  highly  organized  plan  of  examination  the  services 
of  the  Life  Extension  Institute  may  be  utilized  to  excellent  advantage.  The  In- 
stitute has  thousands  of  examiners  in  the  United  States,  all  giving  the  same  type 
of  examination  which  is  particularlv  useful  in  the  building  up  and  maintenance  of 
health.      The    Head   Office  is  at   25' West   45th   St.,   New   York. 

39 


The   Relation   of   tlic   Candidate   Ueiiartnieut   to  tiic  Candidate 

one  year  before  the  candidate  is  to  sail.  This  will  allow  time 
for  specific  preparation  for  the  field  to  which  he  is  to  go  and 
many  candidates  would  take  advantage  of  such  an  opportunity 
if  it  were  given.  One  cannot  blame  candidates  for  declining 
such  a  course  when  the  Board  declines  to  say  to  what  field 
they  are  to  go. 

Satisfactory  selection  of  candidates  is  absolutely  impossible 
if  a  Board  depends  upon  each  Ncar's  supply  of  applicants 
with  which  to  fill  the  year's  demands.  Advance  study  and 
plans  covering  not  less  than  two  or  three  years  are  necessary 
to  bring  the  supply  of  well-prepared  candidates  and  the  needs 
together.  If  a  goodly  share  of  the  annual  supply  is  secured 
well  in  advance  the  methods  described  should  provide  for  the 
vacancies  which  remain  while  at  the  same  time  enlarging  the 
supply  for  the  future. 

Given  the  necessary  information,  time  for  selection  and 
supply  from  which  to  choose,  what  processes  yield  the  best 
results  ? 

1.  Candidates  should  not  only  be  selected  but  graded,  re- 
taining eminently  superior  persons  in  Class  A,  while  others 
are  graded  B,  C,  etc.,  in  order  of  merit  or  demerit.  Those  in 
Class  A  should  be  followed  up  closely  and  every  reasonable 
effort  made  to  secure  them  for  missionary  service. 

2.  To  aid  in  grading,  an  early  and  thorough  investigation 
should  be  made  in  person  and  also  through  correspondence 
with  trusted  advisers  in  Church  or  colleges,  chosen  by  the 
Secretary  rather  than  by  the  candidate.  It  is  an  excellent 
plan  to  have  carefully  chosen  advisers  in  important  centers 
to  guide  candidates  and  to  report  ujion  their  qualifications. 

3.  The  importance  of  the  careful  medical  examination  has 
been  stated.  The  Secretary  must  become  familiar  with  the 
work  of  the  examiners  and  know  how  to  direct  candidates  to 
those  who  can  best  advise  them  in  their  physical  preparation. 

4.  The  candidate  should  be  brought  into  early  and  con- 
stant contact  with  the  reports  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  and  with  wise  missionaries  from  the  field  to 
which  he  proposes  to  go.  He  should  be  urged  to  attend  those 
institutions  which  will  provide  the  best  training  for  the  future 
missionary,  preferably  in  centers  which  the  Secretary  can  visit 
once  or  twice  a  year. 

5.  Whenever  possible  the  candidate  should  be  tried  out  in 
actual  service  at  home.  It  should  be  demonstrated  not  only 
that  he  has  the  knowledge  but  the  ability  to  utilize  it  with 
satisfaction  and  promise. 

6.  Whenever  desired  the  candidate  should  be  given  the 
benefit  of  a  decision  by  the  final  authority,  so  that  he  may 
know  just  where  he  stands  with  the  P»oard.    The  close  contact 

40 


The   Rclntiou   of   the   Cnndidiitc   Uepurtiiieut   to   the   Candidate 

with  the  Secretaries  at  the  headquarters  of  the  ]*>oard  is  very 
desirable. 

7.  Training  conferences  for  candidates  should  be  held  each 
year,  providing  opportunity  for  close  personal  acquaintance 
with  Secretaries,  missionaries,  and  other  candidates  and  for 
the  necessary  inspiration,  instruction  and  personal  guidance 
so  necessary  before  going  to  the  field. 

Methods  such  as  these  should  lead  to  a  marked  increase 
in  the  efficiency  and  degree  of  satisfaction  to  be  obtained 
from  our  candidate  work.  It  should  be  possible  to  fill  every 
opening  on  the  foreign  field  with  a  man  or  woman  of  the 
highest  grade.  If  we  fail  to  do  so  it  is  because  we  do  not 
make  the  necessary  efl^ort,  not  because  the  candidates  are  not 
available.  The  finest  young  men  and  women  in  the  world  are 
waiting  for  us,  ready  for  the  Master's  service. 

DISCUSSION 

Mr.  Frank  L.  Brown:  I  have  been  a  superintendent  of  a  Sun- 
day School  for  thirty-three  years.  In  all  that  time,  I  have  never  re- 
ceived from  any  missionary  board  a  request  that  I  should,  as  superin- 
tendent, be  on  the  lookout  for  young  people  in  our  school  with 
qualities  of  leadership  ability  who  might  be  steered  toward  mis- 
sionary service,  and  yet  I  have  had  a  large  number  of  young  people 
in  our  school  who  might  easily  have  been  directed  into  those  chan- 
nels. I  have  wondered  at  it,  wondered  why  our  missionary  boards 
do  not  go  into  the  Sunday  Schools  and  get  that  rich  material,  at  the 
time  of  life  when  these  young  people  are  l)eing  molded  by  teachers  for 
the  very  objective  of   Church  Community  and  World  service. 

I  did  get  the  other  day  from  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  a  request  that  I 
should  appoint  several  of  the  young  men  of  our  school  as  delegates 
to  a  conference  at  which  there  were  to  be  presented  the  Christian 
ministry,  the  mission  field,  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaryship,  and  social 
service  leadership. 

I  think  we  should  present  to  these  young  peo])le  in  the  Sunday 
Schools  a  coordinated  appeal  that  would  be  administered  as  to  its 
presentation  by  some  one  who  has  the  ability  of  a  Hoover,  who  could 
do  for  the  Christian  Church  what  he  is  doing  for  food  conservation. 
Some  one,  selected  by  various  interests,  should  direct  this  whole 
enterprise  from  a  business  standpoint,  so  that  the  Missionary  Boards 
and  Sunday  School  and  these  other  organizations  would  have  a  fair 
chance  at  Christian  leadership.  These  young  people,  too,  are  entitled 
to  know  the  whole  field  and  reach  of  Christian  service  in  order  to 
wisely  choose  their  life   vocation. 

Dr.  Orville  Reed:  In  connection  with  the  point  in  regard  to 
the  guiding  of  the  candidates,  may  I  report  that  we  are  trying  the 
experiment  of  putting  our  candidates  in  touch  with  an  expert  in 
education,  who  is  a  teacher  in  Teachers  College.  He  advises  with 
them  in  regard  to  the  courses  that  they  are  to  take,  and  gives  the 
advice  of  an  expert.  We  hope  we  shall  have  good  results  from  that 
experiment. 

Miss  Kate  G.  Lamson:  There  is  one  very  practical  aspect  of  this 
whole  subject  that  would  perhaps  come  in  more  fittingly  at  another 
time,  and  this  is   the  physical   preparation  and   selection   of   mission- 

41 


The  Relation  of  the   Candidate   Department  to  the  Candidate 

aries.  From  ,my  experience  it  is  a  most  critical  and  difficult  matter, 
to  make  sure  that  the  physical  preparation  is  what  it  should  be,  and 
that  the  physical  stamina  is  sufficient  to  warrant  sending  out  the 
missionary  to  the  field.  Our  medical  examiners  as  a  rule  are  not 
especially  intelligent  regarding  the  climatic  or  the  physical  demands 
upon  the  candidate  after  he  has  reached  the  field.  It  is  a  great 
problem  to  know  how  we  shall  get  around  this  difficulty,  and  form 
wise  and  far  reaching  decisions  regarding  the  physical  appropriate- 
ness  of   the  candidate   for  the   work. 

Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner:  May  I  offer  two  suggestions?  Many  of 
the  difficulties  to  which  our  attention  has  been  called  will  be  solved  if 
we  begin  early  enough  with  these  prospective  candidates.  I  put  that 
down  as  point  number  one  in  answer  to  several  of  these  questions. 
Take  the  matter  of  directed  reading :  if  we  begin  early  enough  there 
will  be  no  difficulty  about  the  questions  which  are  brought  to  us  by 
mail,  and  in  personal  conversation,  which  will  enable  us  to  direct 
the  reading  of  the  prospective  candidate.  Take  the  matter  of  physical 
qualifications :  one  of  the  questions  which  always  comes  in  the 
correspondence  which  we  at  this  office  have  with  student  volunteers, 
almost  as  soon  as  they  indicate  their  desire  to  become  foreign  mis- 
sionaries is,  "What  are  the  physical  qualifications,"  "Ought  I  to  get 
a  physical  examination  at  this  time?"  The  points  that  have  been 
brought  out  here  all  tend  in  the  direction  of  laying  hold  of  these 
young  men  and  women  as  soon  as  they  have  indicated  their  desire 
to  become  missionaries.  By  following  each  prospective  candidate  these 
difficulties   will   be   solved   during   the   period   of   preparation. 

May  I  also  emphasize  the  contribution  which  the  candidate  who 
is  not  accepted  for  foreign  missionary  service  can  make  toward 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Church  and  to  the  progress  of 
the  missionary  enterprise  within  the  Church.  Rut  if  this  is 
done  great  care  must  be  used  in  dealing  with  those  young  men 
and  women  who  are  not  qualified  to  go  abroad.  In  some  boards  about 
one  in  four  of  the  applicants  is  selected,  in  some  boards  there  may  not 
be  so  large  a  proportion  rejected — but  take  this  for  illustration.  That 
leaves  three  out  of  the  four  who  are  going  to  remain  at  home,  and  if 
those  three  are  dealt  with  properly,  their  inspiration  and  desire  and 
devotion  to  the  problem  of  world-wide  evangelization  will  deepen 
because  they  have  had  this  desire  to  become  foreign  missionaries 
and  their  influence  will  mean  much  to  the  Church.  I  will  venture 
to  say  that  the  great  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the  last  few 
years  in  our  missionary  work  in  all  the  churches  has  been  led  largely 
by  these  men  and  women  who  have  desired  to  go  abroad,  but  who 
have  been  prevented  by  reasons  beyond  their  own  control  from  going 
abroad.  Time  spent  on  the  candidate  who  cannot  be  accepted  is 
not  lost.  We  are  inclined  to  deprecate  the  fact  that  persons  who 
cannot  go  abroad  ever  trouble  our  offices  with  calls  or  with  letters. 
Instead  of  regretting  this,  we  should  welcome  every  such  person  and 
thank  God  for  the  opportunity.  Every  applicant  who  cannot  be  ac- 
cepted should  be  looked  upon  as  an  asset  to  the  work  in  the  home 
Church — and  our  Candidate  Departments  should  be  organized  to  deal 
sympathetically  with  every  applicant.  He  is  an  asset  to  the  Church — 
whether   lie   go   abroad   or   stay   at  home. 

Dr.  Frank  K.  Sanders:  We  must  remember  that  the  specialization 
wliich  is  really  demanded  for  a  new  missionary  is  not  the  kind  of 
specialization  as  a  ndc  that  would  be  required  of  a  missionary  in  the 
course  of  his  first  furlough,  when  he  was  getting  ready  for  his 
permanent  place  on  the  field.  Consequently  if  a  young  candidate  was 
urged  to  [>reparc,  let  us  say  for  educational  service,  and  if  even  at 
the  last  minute  the  particular  task  that  candidate  hail  in   mind   should 

42 


The   Relation  of  the   Cnndidnte   Department   to   the   Candidate 

happen  to  be  altered  slightly,  the  outcome  might  not  be  fatal.  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  training  acquired  would  be  entirely  available  to  the  can- 
didate in  the  slightly  different  educational  position  that  he  or  she 
might  be  asked  to  take  up.  We  are  not  looking  as  a  rule  in  the  gen- 
eral missionary  service  for  doctors  of  philosophy.  There  is  need  for 
a  few  of  them — very  few,  but  such  stand  out  prominently  amidst 
the  great  number  of  missionary  experts.  This  larger  number  is 
rather  composed  of  men  who  know  their  tasks,  but  are  not  yet  trained 
into  that  kind  of  expertness  which  makes  it  difficult  for  one  to  think 
along  other  than  a  very  narrow  line  of  experience.  I  feel  sure  that 
few,  if  any,  of  that  sort  are  wanted  on  the  m.ission  field.  The  danger, 
then,  we  have  in  mind,  when  we  talk  about  the  training  of  specialists 
need  not  be  over-magnified.  There  is  a  chance  in  most  cases  for 
the  reparation  of  mistakes,   if   mistakes  are   made. 

One  other  thought  comes  to  me,  suggested  by  Miss  Calder's  re- 
marks, regarding  the  different  kinds  of  training  that  should  be  urged 
upon  candidates.  I  was  greatly  interested  very  recently,  in  conferences 
held  in  the  Far  East  with  missionaries,  where  they  discussed  this 
very  subject,  to  have  them  say  repeatedly  that  if  they  had  anything 
to  do  with  the  training  of  yoimg  candidates,  they  would  recommend 
to  them  to  use  their  spare  time,  as  far  as  feasible,  in  looking  up  the 
way  in  which  Christian  work  was  carried  on  in  our  country;  to 
study  methods  of  evangelization  as  tliey  happen  to  come  across  them, 
to  study  ways  of  handling  a  Sunday  School  and  of  directing  all 
kinds  of  practical  work.  They  thought  that  would  be  a  wonderfully 
good  training  for  any  young  missionary,  and  that  it  was  available  to 
any  alert  young  candidate  incidentally.  They  hoped  that  our  candidate 
secretaries  would  call  it  to  the  attention  of  those  candidates  with 
whom  tliey  were  in  touch. 

Dr.  Stanley  White:  Apropos  of  the  question  of  the  selection  and 
volunteering,  perhaps  I  might  pass  on  something  which  came  to  me 
the  other  day,  and  which  has  giyen  m.e  a  good  deal  of  thought  be- 
cause it  indicates  what  has  happened  through  this  wartime  with 
reference  to  this  matter  of  volunteering  and  drafting.  I  was  told  that 
at  one  time  at  Chateau  Thierry  it  was  necessary  to  reenforce  a  regi- 
ment which  was  hard  pressed  at  the  front  by  another  regiment.  Word 
was  sent  that  a  new  regiment  had  been  ordered  to  go  forward.  It 
happened  to  be  a  drafted  regiment  and  its  colonel  expressed  the  fear 
that  the  men  at  the  front  who  were  volunteers  might  be  tempted  to 
greet  them  with  jibes.  Within  ten  days  after  they  had  gone  up 
there,  it  was  discovered  that  the  drafted  regiment  was  the  offender 
and  was  chiding  the  volunteers  as  draft  slackers  because  they  had 
chosen  their  work  while  the  others  had  put  themselves  vmreservedly 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Government. 

The  significance  of  that  to  me  is  that  it  indicates  that  we  have 
reached  a  time  when  young  people  have  gotten  a  totally  new  idea 
of.  'the  obligation  of  service.  It  is  only  within  a  week  that  I  have 
been  at  an  institution  where  not  only  the  men  who  had  been  thinking 
about  these  things  before,  but  every  man  in  a  whole  class,  and  some 
men  who  had  been  opposed  to  foreign  missions,  opened  themselves 
deliberately  to  having  the  whole  matter  outlined  before  them  again 
from  the  point  of  view  of  duty ;  and  I  think  we  have  reached  a  time 
when  we,  as  those  who  represent  foreign  missions,  have  a  large 
opportunity  along  a  line,  which  would  be  equivalent  to  drafting,  so 
far  as  we  can  use  that  method  in  a  place  where  we  have  no  absolute 
authority — drafting  men  rather  than  waiting  for  the  volunteers  seems 
to  be  the  suggestion  of  the  hour. 

Dr.  E.  Munson  Hill:  I  have  been  impressed  with  a  phase  of  this 
work  which  gives  a  meaning  larger  even  than  the  matter  of  choos- 

43 


The   Relation   of  tlie   C'niitlidnte   Departnieut   <o   Hie  Cnntlidate 

ing  the  candidate,  which  is  that  we  are  cultivating  missionary  en- 
thusiasts as   well   as   gaining  actual   missionaries. 

I  have  in  mind  the  experience  of  two  young  people  in  our  com- 
munity whom  we  thought  of  as  missionaries  and  encouraged  along 
until,  after  they  had  been  expecting  for  some  time  to  go,  at  the  last 
moment,  they  found  they  couldn't,  and  have  become  very  enthusiastic 
missionaries  at  home.  There  was  one  who  went  through  his  college 
course  expecting  to  be  a  missionary,  but  unfortunately  he  had  not 
had  that  physical  examination  at  the  beginning  of  his  course, 
and,  whereas  he  told  his  wife  and  had  her  consent,  and  they  had 
made  their  plans  to  go,  almost  at  the  last  moment  he  underwent 
the  final  physical  examination  and  found  he  was  not  competent.  There 
was  tuberculosis  back  in  the  family  somewhere  that  made  the  doctor 
hesitate.  The  result  is  that  this  man  is  one  of  the  most  ardent  mis- 
sionary enthusiasts  in  our  church  up  there.  He  became  an  officer 
of  our  home  missionary  society,  and  has  been  a  very  influential  man 
in  gathering  missionary  candidates. 

Now,  my  point  is  that  these  Candidate  Secretaries  are  cultivating 
the  field ;  and  that  if  we  can  get  at  the  people  in  that  impressive  age  of 
youth,  and  encourage  them  along  for  a  little  while,  so  long  as  we 
do  not  keep  them  "on  tenter-hooks"  too  long,  we  have  awakened  in 
them  missionary  enthusiasm,  so  that  when  the  time  comes  that  it  is  de- 
cided they  perhaps  had  better  not  go  abroad,  we  have  gained  four 
or  five  missionary  advocates  in  the  home  church,  and  so  our  Can- 
didate Secretary  becomes  a  very  efficient  agent  for  the  culti\ation 
of  the  home   field. 

Mr.  W.  W.  Lockwood:  One  phase  of  this  subject  that  has  inter- 
ested me  very  much  as  I  have  studied  the  question  since  coming  home 
is  the  importance  of  missionaries  having  had  practical  contact  and 
successful  experience  in  this  country  with  the  work  similar  to  that 
which  they  are  expected  to  do  abroad.  They  think,  and  in  our  own 
inexperience  perhaps  we  are  sometimes  led  to  think,  that  the  mission- 
ary task  after  all  is  something  quite  different  from  the  task  we  have 
at  the  home  end.  This  is  not  true  to  any  great  degree.  Furthermore 
great  emphasis  is  now  being  placed  on  the  scholastic  end  of  tlie  mis- 
sionary's training  and  the  practical  end  is  likely  to  be  neglected. 
Years  of  additional  specialized  training  are  being  required,  so  that 
the  candidate  is  likely  to  arrive  at  an  age  when  he  must  go  to  the 
field  with  little  opportunity  for  the  training  that  he  should  get  through 
experience  in  performing  the  practical  task. 

We  would  do  well  to  study  what  some  of  the  large  business  corpora- 
tions are  doing  in  the  care  of  their  foreign  business,  such  as  the 
National  City  Bank,  or  the  Standard  Oil  Co.  They  are  not  sending 
out  to  foreign  posts  men  without  practical  experience.  They  are 
making  a  practise  of  selecting  their  men,  bringing  them  to  their  cen- 
tral offices,  giving  them  practical  tasks  and  observing  them  at  work. 
These  companies  are  going  to  the  colleges,  hunting  out  the  prospective 
graduates  and  giving  them  definite  calls ;  following  this  they  are 
brought  to  their  offices  and  compelled  to  spend  some  time  in  practical 
training.  This  creates  executives.  The  plans  of  these  corporations 
as  discussed  in  publications  recently  issued  should  be  most  suggestive 
to  us. 

From  the  standpoint  of  a  missionary  let  me  say  that  I  think  that 
the  danger  is  that  too  many  of  us  get  out  to  the  field  without  having 
done  wdiat  you  might  say  "make  good"  in  some  definite  piece  of  work; 
that  is  we  go  out  to  experiment  with  no  achievement  beliind  our  work. 
This  should  not  lie  true  of  the  foreign  missionary  who,  if  anything, 
must  be   a   leader. 

I   believe  strongly   in   this  type  of   training   for   men   rather   than   to 

44 


The   Iteliitiou  of  the   Cnudiduic   Deiiartnicut    lt>   the   Cauilidate 

spend  a  number  of  years  in  educational  institutions  given  to  theory 
especially  when  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  have  already  been  given 
to  theoretical  training. 

Dr.  Frank  K.  Sanders:  Questions,  constantly  raised  by  candi- 
dates regarding  courses  to  be  taken  and  by  missionaries  in  regard 
to  the  wise  use  of  their  furloughs,  are  very  technical.  They  can  only 
be  helpfully  answered  by  some  one  fully  in  touch  with  the  existing 
educational  situation  as  expressed  in  specific  courses  available  at  dif- 
ferent institutions  in  Canada  and  the  United  States,  who  also  knows 
the  working  of  the  candidate   and  missionary  mind. 

The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  will  be  very  glad  to  serve  the 
Boards  in  ways  like  this  through  its  office  which  is  organized  to 
furnish  just  such  information  promptly  and  with  reasonable  ade- 
quacy. To  answer  such  questions  as  earnest  candidates  and  mis- 
sionaries ask  to  their  satisfaction  requires  a  great  deal  of  experi- 
ence. The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  has  gained  much  of 
this  experience  and  would  be  very  glad  to  put  it  at  the  disposal  of  any 
Secretary.  If  a  Secretary  who  receives  a  letter  which  raises  ques- 
tions so  technical  tliat  he  does  not  feel  wholly  competent  to  answer 
them  would  refer  such  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prepara- 
tion, it  will  take  all  necessary  pains  to  determine  the  adequate 
reply,  formulating  that  and  returning  it  to  the  office  of  the  Secre- 
tary in  question   for  him  to  use  as  he  may  choose. 

The  Board  is  in  receipt  of  quite  a  good  deal  of  correspondence 
of  this  sort  originating  directly  in  institutions  in  this  country  from 
candidates  and  on  the  mission  field  frcpm  missionaries.  It  is  our 
practise  invariably  to  notify  the  responsible  Secretary  of  the  Board 
in  question  with  reference  to  queries  of  any  real  importance,  and 
to  indicate  the  proposed  reply  before  actually  sending  any  answer. 
The  Board  regards  such  action  as  primarily  of  administrative  interest 
and  wishes  to  take  no  steps  which  Mission  Secretaries  do  not  fully 
approve. 

Chairman  Corey:  I  would  like  to  just  call  attention  to  the  point 
that  Dr.  White  made  a  moment  ago,  and  reenforce  it  a  little  if  I 
may,  with  regard  to  the  necessity  of  really  selecting  candidates,  talking 
with   them   concerning   some   selected  task   for  them. 

I  had  a  little  experience  this  last  year  which  taught  me  considerable 
with  regard  to  the  appeal  in  putting  up  a  special  task  to  a  person.  We 
had  two  emergencies  in  the  field,  and  I  went  to  two  men  who,  it 
seemed  to  me,  had  had  experience  fitting  them  for  this  work.  Neither 
of  these  men  had  decided  for  the  mission  field,  although  they  had 
thought  of  it  seriously  in  the  past  years,  and  I  sat  down  beside  those 
men  and  told  them  we  needed  them  for  a  specific  work  in  the  field, 
and  that  we  had  no  one  else.  In  both  cases  it  appealed  very  strongly 
to  them.  They  are  both  preparing  to  go.  I  believe  we  must  study 
the  conditions  in  the  field  so  that  we  can  put  up  a  particular  kind 
of  work  to  these  men  as  we  talk  to  them. 


45 


THE    SELECTION    OF   CANDIDATES   FROM 
THE  POINT  OF  VIEW  OF  MISSION- 
ARIES ON  THE  FIELD 

By  Professor  Guy  W.  Sarvis 

University  of  Nanking 

I  have  been  going  over  the  history  of  our  mission  in  China 
for  the  last  few  years,  and  have  noted  that  the  term  of  service 
is  shortening,  and  the  frequency  of  withdrawals  is  on  the 
whole  increasing,  and  I  have  been  trying  to  discover  the 
reasons  for  these  facts.  I  think  that  the  following  state- 
ments are  probably  true. 

In  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  cases,  being  personally  erratic 
was  an  important  factor  in  the  withdrawal.  I  use  the  word 
"erratic";  you  may  say  eccentric,  cranky,  etc.  I  think  in  fifty 
per  cent,  of  the  cases,  incompatibility  with  fellow  missionaries 
has  been  an  important  factor  in  the  withdrawal  of  these  mis- 
sionaries, and  I  think  in  about  the  same  number  of  cases  the 
refusal  to  accept  a  decision  of  the  mission  with  reference  to 
the  work  of  the  particular  missionary,  or  with  reference  to  a 
certain  policy,  has  been  an  important  factor  in  the  situation. 
Of  course,  these  factors  would  not  all  apply  to  any  one  indi- 
vidual, but  they  all  imply  the  inability  of  the  person  in  question 
to  do  team  work.  Health  has  probably  been  the  factor  next 
in  importance  in  causing  withdrawal  from  the  field.  Now, 
these  situations  have  arisen,  I  suppose,  in  many  cases  partly 
through  lack  of  tact  in  the  dealing  of  the  other  missionaries 
with  the  particular  individual,  but  in  practically  every  case 
there  has  been  some  fundamental  twist  in  the  make-up  of  the 
individual  concerned.  The  missionaries,  I  believe,  are  on  the 
whole  long-sufifering  in  their  dealing  with  the  person  who 
is  unable  for  some  reason  or  other  to  fit  in. 

I  am  not  competent  to  discuss  the  methods  used  at  home 
in  selecting  candidates,  but  I  am  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
in  too  many  cases  tlie  selection  of  candidates  is  under  artificial 
conditions.  That  is  to  say  we  don't  get  at  the  candidates 
where  they  are.  We  ask  them  questions  about  their  beliefs 
and  fail  to  do  other  important  things,  e.  g.,  talk  to  them  about 
their  wives  and  babies  and  their  problems  in  their  local 
churches.     That  is  to  say,  if  you  want  to  get  at  a  man's  char- 

46 


The    Seloction    ttt   Candidates 

acter,  you  must  get  at  him  in  his  ]ilain,  everyday  activities. 
Somehow  or  other  we  must  get  at  the  candidate  in  his  normal 
relations  and  over  a  period  of  time.  I  don't  think  that  it  is 
possible  to  decide  on  a  man's  fitness  in  a  short  interval  of 
time,  or  by  correspondence. 

We  find  it  very  difificult  in  the  foreign  field  to  deal  with  a 
certain  type  of  so-called  "pious  people."  Now,  you  under- 
stand what  I  mean  by  that.  I  sometimes  feel  like  saying  we 
are  more  troubled  by  "flagrant  piety"  than  we  are  by  flagrant 
sin  in  the  foreign  field.  In  other  words,  balance,  normality, 
and  just  common  sense  are  the  things  that  we  want,  and  we 
must  find  them  by  studying  the  candidates  as  they  are  under 
ordinary  everyday  conditions. 

The  question  of  health,  of  course,  is  a  question  for  the 
doctors.  I  am  curious  to  know  how  many  doctors  there  are 
here  representing  the  Mission  Boards  this  afternoon.  I  have 
a  suspicion  that  there  aren't  any.  If  there  are,  they  are  cer- 
tainly very  few.  Well,  it  seems  to  me  the  characteristics  of 
the  doctors  who  examine  the  candidates  are  absolutely  as  im- 
portant as  the  characteristics  of  the  Candidate  Secretary.  It 
isn't  a  question  of  physical  examination  only,  but  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  going  with  the  candidate  into  the  whole  physical  health 
situation  in  which  he  is  to  be  placed.  We  can't  avoid  break- 
downs, of  course,  and  we  can't  predict  breakdowns  in  every 
case,  but  there  have  been  many  cases  where  people  have  been 
sent  out  who  were  not  physically  equipped  as  they  should  be. 
I  think  it  is  necessary  to  go  into  the  family  health  history  in 
a  thorough  way.  That  is  to  say,  we  can't  take  the  candidate 
just  as  we  find  him  physically,  but  must  make  a  study  of  him. 
There  is  another  thing  I  would  like  to  emphasize  from  our 
experience  in  the  Nanking  Language  School.  I  hope  that  the 
Board  Secretaries  will  use  all  their  power  to  see  that  people 
are  fit  when  they  go  out,  that  is  to  say,  that  they  are  not 
nervously  exhausted,  that  they  don't  go  to  the  field  after 
months  of  overwork.  I  believe  that  perhaps  half  of  the  people 
who  come  home  during  that  first  year  from  the  language 
school  have  come  largely  because  they  weren't  in  fit  physical 
condition  when  they  arrived — simply  because  they  were  run- 
down. 

There  is  another  matter  which  I  would  not  mention  if  we 
were  not  a  serious  gathering  and  concerned  with  exceedingly 
serious  problems,  and  so  I  think  we  can  talk  frankly.  I  think 
the  missionary  doctor  ought  to  take  up  with  married  people 
who  are  going  out  to  the  field  the  special  questions  that  con- 
cern them.  The  efficiency  of  missionary  families,  their  happi- 
ness and  usefulness,  would  be  greatly  enhanced  if  the  Board 
doctor,  in  a  sympathetic  and  intelligent  way,  would  take  up 

47 


The  Selection  of  Cnndidntcs 

with  them  the  particular  problems  involved  in  life  on  the 
mission  field.^ 

Board  doctors  ought  to  consult  with  doctors  from  the  dif- 
ferent fields  and  gather  information  and  data  with  reference 
to  the  particular  conditions  in  each,  and  then  they  ought  to 
take  up  with  the  candidates  in  conference  the  whole  question 
of  their  health.  The  health  of  married  w.omen  and  of  children 
should  be  specially  emphasized. 

There  is  another  thing — and  that  is  the  question  of  whether 
or  not  we  should  ask  the  candidate  to  commit  himself  for  life 
service.  I  believe  that  missionary  work  is  on  a  par  with  all 
other  Christian  work, — I  don't  think  it  is  different  in  char- 
acter. Therefore  I  raise  the  question  whether  you  have  a 
right  or  whether  it  is  wise  always  to  say,  "This  is  a  life  propo- 
sition." It  isn't  necessarily  a  life  proposition  from  the 
Board's  side.  No  business  firm  makes  that  kind  of  a  proposi- 
tion, no  church  makes  that  kind  of  a  proposition.  I  think 
in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  after  a  man  or  woman 
gets  into  the  mission  field  and  serves  his  first  term,  if  he  has 
been  a  success,  he  is  just  as  likely  to  go  back  if  you  don't 
talk  about  life  service  as  if  you  do.  I  raise  that  point  simply 
for  your  consideration,  not  to  insist  upon  it. 

A  point  which  Miss  Calder  brought  up  this  morning  I  had 
thought  of  in  the  same  terms — and  that  is  the  use  of  the  term 
"evangelistic  missionary."  It  is  like  talking  about  a  flying 
aeroplane  to  talk  about  an  evangelistic  missionary.  It  is  re- 
dundant, for  one  thing,  and  it  is  misleading.  The  thing  that 
comes  to  the  mind  of  the  college  student  when  you  talk  about 
an  evangelistic  missionary  is  a  sort  of  Billy  Sunday  activity, 
and  that  is  as  far  from  describing  the  activity  of  the  mis- 
sionai-y  as  anything  could  be.  I  liked  the  suggestion  of  Miss 
Calder  this  morning:  I  had  thought  of  some  such  phrase  as 
"pastoral  social  worker,"  something  which  implies  that  he 
comes  to  live  among  men,  mix  with  them  and  exert  his  in- 
fluence as  a  leader  among  men.  I  think  the  term  is  most 
misleading,  and  those  of  us  who  have  to  do  with  college 
students  particularly  should  be  very  careful  in  talking  about 
this  line  of  work  to  indicate  that  it  is,  after  all,  the  funda- 
mental work  in  missions. 

All  of  our  mission  schools  depend  on  the  evangelistic  work, 
and  so  does  the  church.  So  I  hope  we  may  discover  some 
term  which  may  describe  those  activities  and  will  take  away 
that  invidious  sound  which  comes  from  a  wrong  interpreta- 
tion of  the  word  evangelistic. 

'  There  is  a  valuable  paper  on  this  subject  in  a  small  book  issued  by  the  Pres- 
byterian Board,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  under  tlie  title  "Counsel  to  New 
Missionaries." 

48 


The   Selection   of   C'nn«1idnte.s 

In  the  next  place,  especially  in  China  and  Japan,  we  need 
men  who  have  the  modern  outlook  in  life.  I  mean  men  who 
think  of  religion  in  terms  of  life  rather  than  in  formulae, 
men  to  whom  religion  is  a  normal  thing,  men  who,  therefore, 
are  sympathetic  with  the  people  to  whom  they  go.  I  have 
thought  of  it  in  this  way :  we  need  men  who  do  not  think  that 
there  is  a  conflict  between  the  God  of-  chemistry  and  the  God 
of  Israel.  Now  that  is  a  very  fundamental  distinction  and 
there  are  missionaries  going  into  the  field  to-day  who  take  the 
attitude  implied  in  that  antithesis  toward  the  work,  toward 
life,  toward  religion — men  who  think  of  religion  as  apart 
from  life  and  as  expressed  in  theology.  These  men  are  prac- 
tically useless  in  China  and  Japan  and  among  the  educated 
classes  anywhere. 

Another  question  I  want  to  make  a  suggestion  about :  the 
question  of  the  age  limit.  In  the  University  of  Nanking  we 
have  had  one  or  two  conspicuous  experiences  with  older  people 
going  out  and  doing  very  efficient  service,  and  there  is  an 
increasing  number  of  openings  in  the  field  for  people  of  this 
class  with  personality  and  training  to  get  into  the  missionary 
work  in  places  where  they  don't  have  to  learn  the  language. 
May  I  say  here  that  I  think  we  have  emphasized  training 
too  much  and  personality  too  little.  The  fundamental  quali- 
fication of  a  missionary  is  personality.  Training  is  im- 
portant, but  you  cannot  train  a  person  who  doesn't  have  per- 
sonality ;  furthermore,  personal  relationships  are  the  most  im- 
portant relationships — not  only  in  China,  but  everywhere  in 
the  world. 

I  want  to  second  what  Mr.  Lockwood  said,  that  experience 
in  life  is  an  essential  qualification  of  any  missionary  candi- 
date. I  believe  in  training  but  I  don't  think  anybody  should 
go  to  the  mission  field  until  he  has  demonstrated  his  ability 
to  meet  a  concrete  situation  in  which  his  own  initiative  and 
ability  are  demonstrated.  Therefore  I  would  advocate  for 
any  young  volunteer  a  year  of  teaching,  or  in  some  other  sort 
of  a  situation  where  he  has  ta  meet  problems  and  work  them 
out  himself.  I  think  that  experience  with  life  is  more  im- 
portant in  many  cases  than  a  year  in  a  special  training  school. 
A  special  training  school  is  apt  to  be  a  sort  of  cloister.  This 
is  not  necessarily  true  and  the  people  who  run  them  try  to  pre- 
vent it,  but  there  is  that  tendency. 

I  would  like  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  candidates 
being  interested  in  all  sorts  of  practical  things,  making  records 
of  useful  information  of  all  sorts,  and  when  they  meet  men 
of  all  kinds  to  talk  with  them  and  find  out  about  their  line 
of  business,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  That  ought  to  be 
emphasized  to  the  volunteers.     It  is  not  only  in  Africa,  where 

49 


The    Selection    <>f   Cnndidates 

you  have  to  be  a  doctor  and  nurse  and  teacher  all  in  one,  that 
this  is  desirable,  but  even  in  highly  specialized  work  it  is  also 
needed. 

If  I  were  to  sum  up  all  I  have  said  I  would  say  that  we 
ought  to  recognize  personality — ability,  and  character — as 
the  fundamental,  the  first  and  last  characteristic  of  the  mis- 
sionary. 


THE    SELECTION    OF    CANDIDATES    FROM 
THE  POINT  OF  VIEW  OF  MISSION- 
ARIES ON  THE  FIELD 

By  J.  G.  Vaughan,  M.D.,  Suterintendent 
Methodist  Hospital,  Nancliaiig,  China 

It  is  a  privilege  to  present  to  this  group  a  few  facts  con- 
cerning the  missionary  candidate  from  the  missionary's  point 
of  view.  With  the  tremendous  program  for  candidate  train- 
ing that  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  is  setting  up, 
it  seems  almost  'presumptuous  to  add  anything.  But  there 
are  a  few  facts  that  impress  me  as  I  think  of  the  field,  that  I 
gladly  present  for  consideration.  May  I  group  them  imder 
the  general  subject  of  "The  Deficiencies  of  Missionary  Can- 
didates" ? 

As  a  physician  the  outstanding  defect  that  appeals  to  me 
is  the  physical.  True,  it  is  found  only  occasionally,  but  still 
more  frequently  than  it  should  be  found.  When  one  thinks  of 
the  methods  that  our  Boards  have  as  a  rule  followed  in  the 
past  in  examining  their  candidates,  it  is  no  wonder  that  one 
on  the  field  frequently  meets  with  instances  of  breakdown  that 
are  pathetic  indeed.  Failure  at  this  point  is  generally  due  to 
incompetent  and  hasty  examinations.  Frequently  they  are 
made  by  busy  physicians  who  think  half  an  hour  of  their 
valuable  time  is  ample  for  the  jiurpose.  lUit  in  these  days  of 
accurate  methods  of  diagnosis  and  of  measuring  physical 
efficiency,  no  satisfactory  physical  examination  can  be  made  in 
such  a  brief  time.  Again,  the  method  of  determining  physi- 
cal examiners  is  often  unsatisfactory.  He  is  generally  chosen, 
not  on  a  purely  business  basis  of  efficiency  but  because  he  is 
a  member  of  the  church  in  question. 

I  believe  the  time  has  fully  come  when  we  should  abolish 
such  inade(|nate  methods.  Some  boards  have  already  taken 
steps  in  lliat  direclion.     My  first  suggestion  for  better  physi- 

50 


The    Scleciiuu   of   Csiiitlidate.s 

cal  examination  of  our  candidates  is  unification.  Let  all  of 
the  boards  concentrate  their  examining  work  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  examiners  located  at  the  chief  geographical  centers  of  the 
country.  There  should  be  in  New  York  a  chief  examiner 
for  the  boards  who  would  select  these  ten  or  twelve  local 
examiners.  These  men  would  then  be  receiving  enough 
work  from  the  boards  to  make  it  interesting  and  remunerative 
to  them.  They  would  naturally  give  more  study  to  the  effect 
of  Oriental  conditions  on  the  American  physicjue. 

Besides  unification,  there  should  be  better  organization  of 
the  examining  work.  lietter  and  more  complete  examining 
questionnaires  should  be  draw^i  up,  and  all  records  should  be 
carefully  filed  and  used  to  check  back  those  candidates  who, 
after  approval,  turn  out  to  be  physical  failures  on  the  field. 
I  believe  there  is  at  present  no  established  custom  of  carrying 
back  to  an  examiner  his  error  in  passing  any  candidate  who 
later  proves  to  be  physically  disqualified  for  the  field.  Physi- 
cians will  be  glad  to  learn  of  their  mistakes  in  order  that  they 
may  profit  by  them. 

Together  with  this  file  showing  accurately  the  health  of 
our  candidates,  there  should  be  accumulated  data  showing 
health  on  the  field.  We  would  then  soon  have  a  store  of 
scientific  information  that  would  not  only  be  of  great  service 
to  the  boards,  but  would  have  a  wide  value  to  the  medical 
profession  at  large. 

As  an  illustration  of  one  of  these  candidates  who  was  a 
physical  failure,  allow  me  to  cite  the  following:  Miss  M., 
a  young  woman,  nurse,  graduate  from  a  good  hospital,  and 
also  a  college  graduate.  She  was,  therefore,  apparently  well 
trained.  In  temperament  she  was  sentimental,  poetic,  hyster- 
ical, sometimes  morbid.  She  had  written  several  poems  which 
had  been  accepted  for  publication.  Several  times  she  had 
shown  slight  suicidal  tendencies. 

When  she  presented  herself  to  the  Board  as  a  candidate 
her  appointment  was  definitely  opposed  by  one  of  her  nurs- 
ing supervisors  who  knew  her  psychic  make-up.  She  suc- 
ceeded, however,  in  passing  a  physical  examination,  by  a  good 
member  of  the  denomination,  a  benevolent,  kindly  physician, 
who  knew  the  candidate  personally  and  wanted  to  see  her  ac- 
complish her  ambition.  This  candidate  was  sent  to  the  field 
and  in  two  weeks  she  was  taken  very  ill  from  conditions  that 
existed  before  she  left  the  homeland,  and  not  improving, 
two  months  later  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  consultation  re- 
quiring that  a  busy  missionary  physician  be  brought  a  day's 
journey  for  consultation.  From  then  on  for  a  year  she 
suffered  a  series  of  acute  illnesses  with  lingering  convales- 
cence and  constant  invalidism.     At  one  time  she  had  a  re- 

51 


The  .Solerfion   at  Candidates 

volver  under  her  pillow,  contemplating  suicide.  Of  course 
she  was  incapacitated  completely,  as  far  as  any  missionary 
work  was  concerned.  Not  only  was  she  inactive  herself  but 
a  great  part  of  the  time  she  required  the 'nursing  attention  of 
busy  missionaries.  Finally,  at  the  end  of  a  year,  she  was 
sent  home  and  several  years  later  was  sent  to  an  asylum,  an 
almost  hopeless  mental  and  physical  wreck. 

Other  similar  cases  could  easily  be  cited  but  this  one  is  suffi- 
cient to  illustrate  the  point  that  I  wish  to  urge,  namely,  that 
we  must  give  thorough  physical  examinations  to  our  candi- 
dates before  they  go  to  the  field. 

As  far  as  mental  qualifications  and  defects  are  concerned, 
may  I  say  that  it  seems  to  me  that  brilliant  scholarship  is  not 
as  essential  as  level-headedness,  common  sense,  adaptability, 
and  sweet  reasonableness.  A  capacity  for  mental  industry 
is  necessary  but  there  is  no  need  that  one  be  a  special  genius. 
We  should  distinguish  between  mental  dullness  and  mental 
stagnation.  A  certain  degree  of  mental  dullness  is  permis- 
sible but  a  spirit  of  mental  stagnation  is  dangerous  on  the 
field. 

Allow  me  to  cite  a  case  of  mental  disqualification  that  came 
to  the  field.  This  case  was  a  nurse.  She  came  out  designated 
as  a  trained  nurse  but  she  was  not  even  a  sensible  practical 
nurse.  Her  inefficiency  in  nursing  and  matters  of  medical 
care  were  so  striking  that  missionaries  on  the  field  could 
never  understand  how  her  Board  could  have  made  such  a 
blunder  as  to  send  her  out.  In  manners  she  was  rather  loud 
and  coarse  and  was  constantly  embarrassing  the  missionaries 
by  her  peculiar  mannerisms.  She  had  very  low  grade  mental 
qualifications,  very  inefficient  training,  and  manners  that  were 
startling  both  to  the  natives  and  to  her  fellow-missionaries. 

In  the  third  place,  w'e  frequently  ignore  a  thorough  study 
of  our  candidates  along  lines  of  psychic  and  social  qualifi- 
cations. We  frequently  see  on  the  fields  the  hysterical  type 
who  is  easily  ofifended  or  deficient  in  calm  judgment,  or  given 
to  making  and  executing  poorly  considered  decisions.  Then 
again  we  see  others  who  under  the  ])eculiar  strain  of  field 
conditions  become  easily  discouraged  and  disappointed  be- 
cause of  their  peculiar  temperament — the  morbid,  taciturn 
type.  Then  again  we  have  the  careless  or  inconsiderate  type, 
frequently  seen,  who  fit  in  very  poorly  with  the  Oriental  ideas 
of  courtesy,  deference  and  consideration  for  others.  Es- 
pecially do  we  Americans  need  to  guard  against  this,  our 
national  fault,  of  abrupt,  outspoken,  sometimes  crude  ill  man- 
ners, for  with  the  Orientals  courtesy  and  gentle  manners  rank 
high. 

In   the    fourth    place,   as    to    theological   qualifications,   we 

S3 


The   Selection   of  Candidates 

should  not  in  my  judgment  be  overcautious  or  exacting  in. 
our  requirements.  It  is  essential  that  there  should  be  a  deep 
interest  and  thorough  knowledge  of  church  life  and  work, 
but  as  to  the  exact  theological  distinction  for  most  of  our  mis- 
sionary workers,  in  my  judgment,  a  careful  exactness  is  not 
essential.  If  one  is  willing  to  go  to  the  foreign  field  for  an 
entirely  unselfish  and  altruistic  purpose,  and  if  he  has  the  love 
of  God  and  his  fellow  man  in  his  heart,  his  theology  will 
not  likely  be  any  cause  of  complaint. 

A  strong  religious  experience  is  most  desirable  but  we  know 
splendid  characters  who  do  not  have  that  outstanding  type  of 
religious  experience,  and  yet  who  have  given  proof  by  the 
unselfish  devotion  of  their  lives  and  the  high  grade  of  their 
service  in  foreign  lands  that  they  had  all  the  fundamental 
requirements  that  Jesus  puts  upon  His  servants. 

Instances  could  be  cited  of  candidates  who  have  been  re- 
jected on  theological  grounds  to  the  great  detriment  of  the 
work.  I  remember  one  schoolmate  of  mine,  a  splendid  fel- 
low, a  medical  graduate  who  applied  to  his  Board  and  in  the 
correspondence  that  followed  he  was  asked  as  to  his  attitude 
on  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  Naturally  an  overcon- 
scientious  fellow,  he  overemphasized  in  his  reply  his  liberal 
ideas  and  he  was  promptly  rejected  without  further  inquiry. 
But  he  was  a  man  who  by  his  life  in  the  medical  school  and 
active  work  as  Bible  Class  leader  and  teacher  had  shown  that 
he  thoroughly  loved  the  Book  and  knew  how  to  teach  it  ac- 
ceptably. 

So  may  I  summarize  in  closing,  urging  that  our  Missionary 
Boards  raise  the  standard  of  medical  examinations  for  our 
candidates,  that  in  the  question  of  mental  efficiency  we  rely 
upon  the  fundamental  qualifications  of  common  sense  and 
good  training  rather  than  brilliant  scholarship ;  and  that  we 
take  carefully  under  our  study  the  psychic  and  social  tempera- 
ment ;  and  that  on  the  moral  and  religious  side  we  be  not 
overcautious  but  hold  rigidly  to  high  moral  ideals,  loyalty 
to  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the  life  of 
service. 

DISCUSSION 

Bishop  A.  S-  Lloyd:  Will  some  missionary  enlarge  a  little  on 
that  psychopathic  question  ?  It  happens  in  my  organization  I  am 
the  last  man  that  has  to  pass  on  those  papers,  and  it  is  heart-breaking. 
1  want  to  know  if  the  missionaries  can  give  me  any  token  by  which 
we  can  know  the  signs  that  mean  disaster  on  the  psychopathic  side. 
All  the  rest  of  it  we  can  take  care  of,  but  that  thing  which  we  call 
temperament  causes  more  distress  in  my  experience  than  all  the  rest 
of   the  things   put   together. 

Prof.  Guy  W.  Sarvis:     At  least  a  preliminary  medical  examination 

53 


I'he   Selection   of  CandiilatelS 

at  the  time  of  volunteering,  as  the  Board  of  Preparation  has  sug- 
gested, is  important.  I  have  known  a  good  many  people  who  have 
been  if  not  embittered,  at  least  greatly  disappointed  because  they 
have  gone  ahead  with  the  idea  of  becoming  missionaries,  when  a  physi- 
cal examination  would  have  shown  that  that  was  impossible. 

May  I  say  this,  that  a  person  of  unprepossessing  appearance  and  of 
boorish  manners  will  practically  never  make  a  good  missionary?  I 
think  that  ought  to  be  considered  an  important  qualification.  Of 
course,  the  Orient  is  the  politest  part  of  the  world,  and  the  matter  of 
personal  appearance  is  taken  into  consideration  by  all  classes  in  the 
Orient,  and  a  person  who  has  that  sort  of  manners,  whether  they 
are  to  blame  or  not,  reveals  that  sort  of  personality.  In  practically 
every  case,  a  person  of  that  type  is  lacking  in  tact,  and  in  a  conscious- 
ness of  the  point  of  view  of  the  person  with  whom  he  is  dealing. 

Rev.  E.  C.  Lobenstine;  The  topic  we  are  discussing  here  to-day 
is  of  the  keenest  interest  to  us  in  China.  During  the  past  five  years 
a  Committee  in  China  has  been  devoting  itself  to  the  study  of  ques- 
tions  connected   with   the  training  of   missionaries. 

We  were  much  helped  by  the  recent  visit  of  Dr.  F.  K.  Sanders, 
who  came  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  to  see 
the  missionary  at  work  and  to  confer  with  those  on  the  field  as  to  how 
missionaries  can   best  be  fitted   for  their  work. 

In  China  we  regard  it  as  of  supreme  importance  that  missionaries 
before  coming  to  the  field  should  understand  what  Christianity  really 
is,  what  it  is  that  differentiates  it  from  other  religions  and  makes 
it  the  universal  religion.  We  regard  it  as  far  more  important 
that  missionaries  should  have  a  clear  grasp  of  the  history 
of  the  Christian  church,  of  its  contribution  to  human  prog- 
ress and  its  message  to  the  world  to-day  than  that  they  should 
acquire  a  large  amount  of  information  regarding  conditions  in  the 
country  to  which  they  are  to  go.  Most  of  this  latter  kind  of  knowl- 
edge may  be  acquired  after  they  reach  the  field,  but  it  is  of  funda- 
mental importance  that  before  they  go  out  they  should  understand 
what   it  is   that   we   are   commissioned   to   do   in   the   world. 

In  the  matter  of  specialized  training,  our  Committee  in  China  is 
of  the  opinion  that  one  of  the  most  practical,  and  simple  things 
that  could  be  done  here  would  be  to  have  the  Boards  agree  that  edu- 
cation shall  rank  with  theology  and  with  medicine,  as  a  distinct 
department  of  missionary  work,  and  that  any  young  man  or  young 
woman  in  college,  who  volunteers  for  service  on  the  foreign  mission 
field  should  have  before  him  or  her  at  that  time  the  choice  of  at  least 
these  three  main  professions.  We  are  concerned  that  when  mission- 
aries come  out  they  shall  be  well  trained  along  one  of  the  main  lines  of 
missionary  activity,  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  enter  upon  their  work 
with  a  fair  degree  of  specialized  preparation.  It  is  also  most  desirable 
that  they  should,  if  possible,  have  some  practical  experience,  before 
going  to  the  field. 

We  rejoice  in  the  large  amount  of  thought  which  is  being  given 
to  the  securing  of  a  better  trained  staff  of  missionaries  and  are  pre- 
pared to  cooperate  with  you  in  helping  young  missionaries  acquire  that 
part  of  their  preparation  that  can  best  be  acquired  after  they  reach 
the  field. 

Dr.  Anna  S.  Kugler:  The  kind  of  material  we  need  in  the  Orient 
is  the  kind  of  material  that  would  make  a  success  of  life  in  the 
Occident.  We  don't  want  people  sent  to  India  and  China  and  Japan 
that  cannot  make  a  success  of  life  at  home.  We  want  the  best  that 
America  has.  We  do  not  want  missionaries  who  have  taken  short- 
cut   preparation.      \Vc    do    not    want    medical    missionaries    who    have 

54 


The   Selection   of   Candidate!^ 

been  trained  at  second-rate  medical  schools.  We  want  them  to  get 
their  training  at  medical  colleges  of  the  first  rank. 

Rev.  S.  G.  Inman:  We  of  Latin  America  feel  just  as  those  from 
the  Orient  have  expressed  it,  the  value  of  personality.  One  char- 
acteristic of  the  Latin  is  the  value  that  he  places  upon  the  indi- 
vidual. Presidents  of  countries  are  elected  not  because  of  what  they 
represent  in  the  platform,  but  because  of  what  they  are  themselves, 
individually,  and  so  on  down  to  the  smallest  office.  So  a  man  with- 
out personality  can  really  get  no  following.  It  is  around  his  person- 
ality that  institutions  are  built.  So  I  hope  that  the  Boards  will 
always  keep  that  in   mind,   in   sending  missionaries   to   Latin   America. 

I  wonder  if  I  might  say  too,  that  the  missionary  secretaries  ought  to 
carry  out  their  convictions  in  regard  to  the  fitness  of  the  candidates. 
The  description  of  one  missionary  sent  to  the  field  given  here  this  after- 
noon tallies  exactly  with  other  missionaries  that  I  know  have  been  sent 
to  the  field  and  the  missionary  secretaries  knew  that  they  had  those 
characteristics.  But  because  of  certain  promises  that  they  might  have 
made  or  some  friends  might  have  made,  or  because  of  some  family 
connections  or  for  some  other  reason,  those  missionaries  are  now 
on  the  field.  But  it  will  be  necessary  in  six  months  or  a  year  or  two 
years,  according  to  how  long-sufifering  are  the  mission  and  the  Board, 
to  return  those  missionaries  to  the  United  States.  Now  it  would 
have  saved  broken  hearts  and  broken  purposes  and  a  number  of 
other  things  if  missionary  boards  would  have  just  simply  had,  may  I 
say,  the  nerve  to  speak  the  word  at  first  that  they  will  finally  have  to 
speak. 

Concerning  training,  a  method  has  been  tried  in  our  Latin  American 
field  recently  that  seems  to  me  worth  while  to  think  about,  and  that 
is  missionaries  going  into  the  government  universities  in  these  coun- 
tries after  they  have  gotten  to  the  field,  for  special  courses.  One  of 
our  men  went  to  Buenos  Ayres  and  after  struggling  with  the  lan- 
guage for  some  little  time,  decided  that  he  would  take  a  course 
in  the  university.  That  has  straightened  out  his  language  question 
and  it  has  given  him  contact  with  the  educated  classes  and  friend- 
ship with  some  of  the  leading  people  of  the  city.  So  I  believe  we 
ought  to  look  further  into  the  value  of  certain  missionaries  taking 
advanced  courses  in  the  state  educational  institutions  of  the  country 
to   which   they  go. 

Dr.  John  E.  Williams:  I  wondered  whether  the  Boards  might 
not  develop  a  Medical  Committee  in  New  York,  where  they  could 
have  the  association  of  experts  in  all  lines,  who  would  serve  all  the 
Boards.  The  candidates  might  spend  some  time,  without  being  rushed 
or  anxious,  under  the  observation  and  examination  of  such  a  Board, 
trying  to  determine  particularly  their  fitness  on  the  psychopathic  side 
for  the  work. 

One  recognizes  how  difficult  it  is  to  forecast  the  development  of 
young  missionaries  after  they  get  to  the  field.  It  is  somewhat  like 
the  artist's  work  on  pottery  before  it  is  fired ;  the  stress  and  strain 
of  the  furnace  often  bring  out  very  different  results  from  those  an- 
ticipated. Going  to  a  dififerent  climate,  under  different  racial  condi- 
tions, undertaking  to  learn  a  language  with  no  roots  of  association, 
proves  often  to  be  too  difficult  a  test.  Then  with  the  missionary 
it  is  like  being  ushered  by  board  decree  into  a  large  family  where 
you  must  like  very  much  your  newly  provided  sisters  and  brothers. 
The  first  requisite  is  a  personality  and  temperament  that  can  adjust 
these  complex  relations,  as  well  as  the  specialized  training  which 
is  now  required  to  meet  the  specialized  needs.  I  should  think 
there  would  be  great  advantage  in  having  the  nervous  and  tempera- 
mental examination  under  the  medical  men. 

55 


SELECTING    AND   TRAINING  LEADERS   IN 
INDUSTRIAL  ESTABLISHMENTS 

By  Mr.  Paul  Super,  New  York 

I  am  going  to  speak  briefly  about  some  of  the  things  that 
industry  and  the  army  are  doing  in  the  selecting  and  in  the 
training  of  their  leaders. 

A  medieval  writer  said  that  in  the  house  of  God  some  pray, 
some  work,  and  some  fight,  and  by  that  classification  divided 
men  into  three  divisions,  those  who  are  professionally  engaged 
in  religion,  those  who  are  working  men,  and  those  who  are 
soldiers.  Let  us  divide  the  house  of  God  into  three  this  after- 
noon, and  see  what  we  who  belong  to  that  section  of  the 
house  that  prays  can  learn  from  the  section  that  fights  and  the 
section  that  works. 

A  great  manufacturer  recently  said  that  for  fifty  years 
America  has  specialized  on  manufacturing  processes  and  on 
production,  to  the  neglect  of  personnel,  and  the  result  of  this 
is  that  there  is  in  industry  a  very  large  turnover,  to  use  the 
industrial  term.  In  industry  turnover  refers  to  the  number 
of  men  you  employ,  to  fill  a  specific  position.  If  you  have  an 
average  staff  of  ten  men,  and  you  employ  ten  new  men  in  the 
course  of  a  year  to  keep  ten  positions  filled,  your  turnover  is 
a  hundred  per  cent.  If  you  have  eight  positions  and  you 
employ  no  new  men  throughout  the  year,  you  have  no  turn- 
over. Now  turnover  in  industry  has  been  one  of  the  most 
expensive  phases  of  the  manufacturing  processes.  Industrial 
leaders  say  that  there  are  forty  million  workers  in  America, 
and  that  the  turnover  is  fifty  million,  that  is,  that  the  country 
engages  each  year  fifty  million  people  to  keep  forty  million  on 
the  staff.  They  figure  that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  this  turn- 
over is  unnecessai*y,  and  only  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  it  is 
justifiable.  They  figure  the  turnover  costs  from  eight  dollars 
for  a  common  working-man  to  a  thousand  dollars  for  a  fore- 
man and  that  the  whole  loss  in  the  country  each  year,  largely 
through  turnover,  misplaced  and  untrained  workers,  is  thir- 
teen billions  of  dollars.  Those  are  the  figures  of  the  industrial 
experts  of  the  country. 

Therefore,  industry  is  now  coming  to  divide  its  processes 
into  five  sections,  instead  of  the  old  four  sections :  the  five 
sections  being,  in  the  first  place,  production  ;  in  the  second 
place,  finance  and  accounting ;  in  the  third  place,  marketing ; 

56 


Selecting  and  Training  Leaders  in  Industrial  Elstabllshnients 

in  the  fourth  place,  transportation ;  and  in  the  fifth  place,  per- 
sonal relations.  Personnel  is  the  thing  that  is  receiving  atten- 
tion in  industry  to-day. 

The  problems  that  are  handled  by  a  Personnel  Department 
of  a  large  industry  are  the  problems  of  employment,  the  prob- 
lems of  education  and  training,  the  problems  of  safety  and 
health,  the  problems  of  thrift  and  benefits,  and  the  problems 
of  welfare. 

In  the  selecting  of  men,  four  or  five  lines  of  guidance  are 
followed.  In  the  first  place,  physical  examination,  examina- 
tion as  to  whether  a  person  is  physically  fit  to  engage  in  the 
industrial  process  that  industry  is  contemplating  employing 
that  person  for.  In  the  second  place,  psychological  tests  to 
indicate  aptitude  for  certain  things,  psychological  tests  of  an 
objective  nature  to  indicate  ability  along  certain  lines.  Dr. 
Hugo  Miinsterberg  carried  this  too  far  a  few  years  ago ;  the 
reaction  from  the  extreme  to  which  Miinsterberg  carried 
this  is  now  taking  place,  so  that  while  some  people  regard 
psychological  tests  as  valueless,  industry  is  regarding  them 
as  valuable. 

In  a  report  issued  a  few  weeks  ago  by  Dr.  Mann,  of  the 
Carnegie  Foundation,  he  advocates  that  men  looking  forward 
to  being  engineers  take  psychological  tests.  Here  is  an  illus- 
tration of  objective  tests :  Here  is  a  box,  containing  six  unas- 
sembled pieces  of  machinery,  such  as  a  door-knob  unassem- 
bled, an  electric  battery,  etc.  You  take  the  box  and  pass  it 
over  to  a  man  and  see  how  long  it  will  take  him  to  assemble 
each  one  of  those  six  unassembled  pieces  of  machinery.  If 
he  can  assemble  them  in  an  hour,  for  instance,  he  is  a  man  of 
average  mechanical  ability.  If  he  assembles  them  in  half  an 
hour,  he  has  tmusual  mechanical  ability.  By  that  simple  test 
you  can  find  out  whether  a  man  has  the  makings  of  a  mechanic 
or  not.  Walter  Dill  Scott,  another  psychologist,  Thorndike, 
and  other  men  are  working  on  this  problem  of  psychological 
tests. 

This  is  not  something  that  is  being  done  merely  in  the 
college  laboratory.  It  has  passed  beyond  that  academic  sphere 
and  is  now  a  practical  process  that  the  industries  are  apply- 
ing as  a  basis  of  choosing  men. 

The  third  guide  in  the  choosing  of  candidates  is  the  careful 
analysis  of  the  requirements  of  a  specific  task.  What  qualities 
must  a  person  have  in  order  to  work  at  a  loom?  Well,  a 
nervous,  irritable,  highly  intelligent  girl  would  not  do ;  in  fact, 
any  one  of  those  three  qualities  would  almost  unfit  a  girl  to 
be  a  loom-worker;  but  a  girl  of  low  intelligence,  phlegmatic  in 
character  would  make  a  better  loom-worker  than  a  bright, 
quick  girl.     They  ar€  analyzing  the  kind  of  people  necessary 

57 


Selecting  and   Training   Leaders   in   Industrial    Kstnhlislinients 

for  specific  tasks.  They  are  making  that  analysis  twofold,  to 
find  the  kind  of  person  that  should  do  this  task,  and  analyzing 
the  individual  to  find  the  kind  of  task  that  this  person  should 
perform. 

The  turnover  in  industry  falls  into  two  classes,  the  newer 
employees  and  the  untrained  employees.  I  dare  say  you  will 
find  each  of  these  conditions  reproduced  in  missionary  work. 
I  know  we  find  them  reproduced  in  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work.  Our 
great  turnover  falls  into  two  classes,  the  newer  employees  and 
untrained  employees.  The  solution  of  turnover  in  new  em- 
ployees is  found  in  scientific  processes  of  choosing  and  select- 
ing those  who  are  to  be  engaged  in  certain  lines  of  work.  The 
solution  of  the  problem  of  untrained  employees  is  found  in 
distinct,  well-thought-out  processes  of  training  the  men  for 
these  specific  tasks. 

I  returned  to  the  United  States  a  few  years  ago  to  take 
charge  of  the  training  of  Y.  M.  C  A.  secretaries  for  the 
International  Committee.  I  had  previous  to  that  time  been 
guided  in  my  own  work  in  training  men  by  the  experience 
of  engineering  corporations,  so  when  I  came  to  America  I  at 
once  made  a  tour,  visiting  big  engineering  corporations  and 
interviewing  the  leaders  in  those  corporations  as  to  how  they 
choose  their  employees. 

I  can  only  speak  of  one  or  two  things,  because  I  am  going 
to  keep  very  carefully  to  my  time  limit.  I  will  take  first  the 
Western  Electric  Co.  of  Chicago.  A  man  named  J.  W. 
Dietz  heads  the  work  of  training  employees.  He  is  a  univer- 
sity graduate,  an  expert  engineer.  He  is  one  of  the  men  that 
the  Government  has  recently  asked  to  take  charge  of  similar 
work,  the  proper  training  and  placing  of  mechanics  in  the 
army.  They  have  scouts  in  the  various  colleges.  They  carry 
on  an  extensive  system  of  recruiting  and  very  carefully  an- 
alyze the  men  whom  they  contemplate  employing. 

I  have  brought  along  some  of  the  material  used  by  the 
Western  Electric,  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  by  Westing- 
house,  by  Commonwealth  Edison  of  Chicago,  by  th-e  National 
City  Bank,  etc.  They  have  definite  blanks  that  men  fill  out. 
They  seek  information  on  such  ])oints  as  honesty,  scholarship, 
personal  appearance,  personal  habits,  ambition,  refinement, 
approach,  health,  perseverance,  cheerfulness,  a  long  list  of 
qualities  carefully  studied  out.  When  men  make  applica- 
tion the  corporations  go  into  these  various  qualities,  and  they 
are  very  carefully  sifted,  so  that  when  a  man  has  been  finally 
engaged  by  a  corporation  he  is  very  likely  a  man  who  is  going 
to  be  a  future  executive.  I  am  talking  about  executives  only 
at  the  present  time. 

1  went  down  to  the  Westinghouse  in  Pittsburg.     They  em- 

58 


Selecting  and  Training  T<ea«ler.s   in   Industrial  Establishments 

ployed  at  that  time  fifteen  thousand.  A  man  by  the  name  of 
C.  R.  Dooley  is  at  the  head  of  the  educational  work,  and  he 
has  a  stafif  of  three  other  men  giving  all  their  time  to  this 
selecting  and  training  of  employees.  They  have  scouts  in  all 
the  different  colleges.  I  said  to  Mr.  Dooley,  'T  have  come  to 
talk  to  you  about  the  training  of  executives."  "Why,"  he 
said,  "we  don't  train  executives ;  we  find  them."  You  don't 
train  missionaries;  you  find  them.  Of  course  Mr.  Dooley 
meant  merely  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  proper  selection 
of  candidates  before  training  is  begun. 

The  emphasis  should  lie  in  the  original  selecting  and  choos- 
ing of  the  man.  We  find  the  same  thing  true  in  the  work  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  the  most  important  work  the  Board  can 
do  at  this  end,  so  far  as  personnel  is  concerned,  is  in  training 
experts  who  will  carefully  select  and  carefully  sift  those  who 
apply. 

I  can  name  corporations  in  all  parts  of  the  country  which 
are  employing  these  careful  processes  of  selecting  and  train- 
ing men,  and  tell  you  of  the  different  men  in  different  cor- 
porations who  have  charge  of  this  work.  They  are  the  keen- 
est, most  shrewd,  capable  men  that  I  have  met  in  the  industry 
in  many  cases,  these  men  who  have  charge  of  personnel. 

I  wonder  if  we  who  belong  to  that  section  of  the  House  of 
God  that  prays  are  taking  a  lesson  from  industry  in  putting 
our  strongest,  keenest  men  in  charge  of  this  work.  I  do  not 
know  whether  we  are  or  not, — I  raise  the  question. 

The  National  City  Bank  is  another  great  corporation  that 
is  carrying  on  similar  processes. 

I  asked  Mr.  Dooley  how  many  men  they  selected.  He  said, 
"In  1917  we  interviewed  701  men;  we  approved  of  256;  we 
engaged  168." 

Let  me  call  your  attention  to  a  phase  of  this  very  extensive 
corporation  work  that  is  going  on  in  our  colleges.  I  am 
concerned  about  it  as  a  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  One 
of  these  corporation  men  went  to  a  man  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  and  offered  him  a  position  in  his  corporation, 
and  the  student  said,  'T  am  very  much  interested  in  your 
proposition,  but  you  are  the  sixth  corporation  that  has  offered 
me  a  position  to  receive  training  in  your  corporation,  with 
the  prospect  of  advancing  and  becoming  an  executive."  Do 
you  and  I  reaHze  that",  far  more  energetic  than  you  and  I, 
the  able  representatives  of  the  corporations  of  the  country  are 
going  into  the  colleges  and  with  the  most  approved  methods 
are  picking  out  the  Phi  Beta  Kappas  and  the  valedictorians, 
the  leading  men  of  our  colleges  ? 

You  and  I,  as  religious  leaders,  must  use  equally  successful 
processes  of  finding  those  men  who  are  going  to  be  the  future 

59 


Selecting   nnd   'I'raiuing-   Leader!^   in   Industrial   lOstaltli.-slintents 

leaders  of  the  church  enterprises.  Don't  understand  me  as 
having  any  objection  to  the  leaders  of  industry  using  the  best 
methods  of  finding  the  men  they  need ;  I  am  holding  them 
up  as  an  example  of  what  we  as  religious  leaders  should  do. 

I  want  to  speak  of  one  other  thing:  the  process  of  rating  of 
men  used  by  the  army  as  a  basis  for  their  system  of  promotion. 
The  army  has  worked  out  a  very  fine  process.  The  army  in 
rating  its  officers  for  promotion  is  using  a  five-fold  basis. 
These  five  are :  physical  qualities,  intelligence,  leadership,  per- 
sonal qualities,  and  general  value  to  the  service.  The  men  are 
rated  by  their  immediate  superiors,  as  to  their  degree  of  pro- 
ficiency, or  their  degree  of  excellence  in  these  various  qualities. 
A  man  who  is  perfect  in  physique  would  get  15,  perfect  in 
intelligence,  we  will  say,  or  of  very  high  intelligence  15,  lead- 
ership 15,  personal  qualities  15,  general  value  to  the  service 
40.  But  the  basis  of  this  grading  is  not  by  abstracting  num- 
bers. A  man  puts  down  here  under  "physical  qualities"  five 
men  whom  he  knows.  He  will  say  "Captain  Brown  has  the 
finest  physique  of  any  man  I  know,  Captain  Jones  the  worst. 
Captain  Smith  about  the  middle,  Sanders  above  him,  and 
Robinson  below."  Now,  we  are  going  to  grade  Lieutenant 
Blank  on  the  basis  of  his  value  as  a  Captain.  He  is  about 
lik-e  Captain  Smith,  the  man  in  the  middle  of  the  scale.  This 
gives  him  a  grade  of  9  for  physique,  15  being  perfect. 

I  brought  here  several  reports  to  give  you  a  visualization  of 
how  seriously  corporations  are  taking  this  matter.  The  cor- 
porations of  the  country,  those  you  would  most  readily  name, 
such  as  the  Westinghouse,  Southern  Pacific,  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  Western  Electric,  Edison,  are  united  in  what  is 
called  the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools ;  they 
have  a  convention  annually,  based  upon  careful  reports,  and 
here  is  the  report  of  the  last  convention.  A  monthly  bulletin 
is  issued  by  the  corporation  schools  on  this  matter  of  the 
selecting  and  training  of  employees,  and  here  is  a  bound  vol- 
ume of  this  bulletin.  Very  attractive  literature  is  gotten  out 
by  the  corporations,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  these  men 
whom  they  are  recruiting. 

Here  is  General  Electric  of  Schenectady,  here  is  Westing- 
house,  here  is  Browne  &  Sharpe,  here  is  National  City  Bank 
[holds  up  pamphlets],  here  is  another  one  of  General  Electric, 
another  one  of  Westinghouse,  New  York  Edison  Company, 
etc. 

I  have  taken  these  few  minutes  to  try  to  make  this  point — 
that  the  financial  and  industrial  leaders  of  our  country  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  their  greatest  source  of  waste 
at  the  present  time  lies  in  the  improper  selection  and  inade- 
quate training  of  employees;  that  to  remedy  this  defect  they 

60 


The    Selection   of   Candidates 

arc  engaging'  college  graduates  who  are  trained  experts  to  de- 
vise scientific  methods  of  selecting  men  and  to  organize 
schools  for  training  men ;  that  the  army  has  realized  the  value 
of  this,  and  they  have  devised  a  sci-entific  process  of  choosing 
men  for  promotion  to  responsible  positions. 

We  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  are  trying  to  come  to  an  understand- 
ing of  these  processes,  and  apply  them  in  the  work  of  our 
organization. 


THE    SELECTION    OF   CANDIDATES    FROM 

THE  POINT  OF  VIEW  OF  STUDENT 

VOLUNTEERS  AT  HOME 

By  Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner 

If  one  were  to  estimate  the  importance  which  most  of  our 
Foreign  Mission  Boards  put  on  the  qualified  missionary  candi- 
date, by  the  provision  which  they  make  for  the  training  and 
preparation  of  the  men  and  women  for  this  service,  one  would 
be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  most  of  our  Societies  attached 
very  little  importance  to  the  matter  of  properly  staffing  the 
work  on  the  mission  field.  About  once  a  year  at  the  time 
when  decisions  must  be  made  as  to  the  reenforcements  to  be 
sent  out,  the  candidate  looms  up  as  of  some  importance.  This 
is  not  true  with  the  great  industrial  establishments,  as  Mr. 
Super  has  just  been  pointing  out  to  us.  In  these  organizations 
so  much  importance  is  attached  to  the  kind  of  men  needed  to 
carry  on  their  business  that  their  Personnel  Departments  are 
efficiently  organized  with  able  men  in  charge  who  are  giving 
all  their  time  to  this  work.  They  do  not  expect  the  man  who 
is  at  the  head  of  the  Sales  Department  or  the  Manufacturing 
Department  to  be  responsible  for  finding  and  training  the  men 
needed  to  carry  on  their  enterprises.  But  our  Boards  expect 
the  Secretary  who  carries  the  burden  of  the  cultivation  of  the 
Church  at  home  or  the  Foreign  Administration  to  look  also 
after  the  candidates. 

Our  young  men  and  women  who  have  become  Student  Vol- 
unteers have  a  right  to  expect  that  their  Foreign  Mission 
Boards  will  have  adequately  organized  departments  with  com- 
petent secretaries  in  charge  to  supervise  the  training,  the  selec- 
tion and  the  appointment  of  those  who  offer  themselves 
for  the  work  of  the  Board.  The  missionaries  on  the  field  have 
the  right  to  expect  that  the  Personnel  Department  of  the 
Board  will  be  so  organized  that  they  can  find  the  qualified 

6i 


The   Selection   of  Candidates 

men  and  women  needed  to  do  the  work  on  the  field.  To  some 
of  us  it  is  not  surprising  that  Boards  have  difficulty  in  getting 
the  men  and  women  needed.  And  I  venture  the  prediction 
that  there  will  be  no  improvement  until  the  Boards  gear  up 
their  organizations  to  do  the  work  which  must  be  done  if  these 
workers  are  found,  trained,  and  assigned  to  the  places  for 
which  they  are  fitted.  For  most  of  our  Boards  the  workers 
needed  have  been  found  so  easily,  in  times  past,  that  they 
have  not  felt  the  necessity  of  giving  much  time  and  effort  to 
finding  the  workers  required.  To  no  small  degree  this  was 
possible  because  the  necessity  of  special  preparation  had  not 
been  recognized. 

Not  infrecjuently  serious  complaints  have  come  because  a 
considerable  number  of  applicants  had  to  be  examined  be- 
fore the  qualified  candidates  were  found.  There  is  no  royal 
road  to  an  adequate  supply  of  properly  trained  missionary 
recruits.  If  we  have  been  disposed  to  become  discouraged, 
we  should  remember  what  Mr.  Super  has  just  reported  of  the 
experience  of  one  of  these  industrial  corporations  which  en- 
gaged only  i68  men  out  of  700  who  were  interviewed.  Re- 
member also  that  the  man  in  charge  of  that  work  did  not  de- 
pend on  letters  and  blank  forms.  He  called  on  these  men, 
interviewed  them,  and  personally  investigated  their  qualifica- 
tions in  the  college. where  they  were  students. 

Student  Volunteers  would  have  the  Secretaries  remember 
that  time  and  energy  and  money  spent  dealing  with  candidates 
who  cannot  be  sent  to  the  mission  field  is  not  lost.  If  dealt 
with  in  the  right  spirit  and  method  every  Student  Volunteer 
kept  at  home  becomes  a  valuable  asset  to  the  missionary  enter- 
prise. It  would  be  easy  to  give  a  list  of  Student  Volunteers 
who  have  not  been  sent  abroad  -and  yet  have  become  leaders  in 
Foreign  Mission  work  at  home.  Some  of  them  are  in  this 
room.  Do  any  of  us  feel  that  the  time  spent  on  us  when  as 
Student  Volunteers  we  had  offered  ourselves  to  our  Boards 
was  time  and  effort  spent  to  no  purpose? 

In  this  connection  let  me  emphasize  another  point  which 
Mr.  Super  brought  out ;  viz.,  the  competition  which  all  our 
Christian  agencies  must  meet  in  securing  strong  men.  It  is 
no  simple  matter  for  a  college  student  to  decide  what  he  is 
going  to  do,  when  he  has  several  of  these  great  companies 
holding  out  to  him  the  most  alluring  prospects — one  student 
is  reported  to  have  had  offers  from  six  companies.  The  men 
who  are  seeking  the  ablest  of  our  young  men  for  these  busi- 
ness positions  do  not  hesitate  to  appeal  to  altruistic  motives 
and  aspirations.  They  fully  understand  that  the  best  of  these 
college  men  are  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  unselfish  service 
and  they  not  infrecjuently  point  out  that  these  positions  in 

62 


The   Selection   of  Candidates 

the  great  industrial  world  afford  as  many  opportunities  for 
the  betterment  and  uplift  of  their  fellow-men  as  if  they  went 
into  the  ministry,  or  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  or  into  teaching.  They 
are  told  that  large  numbers  of  people  will  come  under  their 
care,  that  these  working  people  need  the  help  of  executives 
who  approach  the  problem  as  Christians,  and  that  as  Chris- 
tian men  in  industry  they  can  bring  to  pass  many  things 
that  they  could  not  accomplish  if  they  were  to  enter  the 
Christian  ministry,  or  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  at  home  or 
abroad.  Many  young  men  who  enter  college  in  response  to 
what  they  have  believed  to  be  a  call  of  God  to  such  work  are 
unable  to  stand  before  these  arguments.  Every  year  I  feel 
more  strongly  that  unless  our  foreign  missionary  Boards 
organize  their  candidate  departments  to  meet  the  present 
situation,  it  is  going  to  be  increasingly  difficult  to  secure  the 
type  of  men  we  must  have,  not  because  these  men  are  be- 
coming less  interested ;  for  the  altruistic  spirit  and  desire  to 
serve  is  very  strong.  But  there  is  no  use  denying  the  fact 
that  no  more  subtle  temptation  can  be  presented  to  ambitious 
young  men  than  the  opportunity  for  material  prosperity 
coupled  with  opportunities  to  help  their  fellow-men.  Too 
often  men  looking  forward  to  the  Christian  ministry  at  home 
or  abroad  allow  themselves  to  be  persuaded  that  they  can  do 
Christian  work  as  a  side  issue,  while  they  give  their  time  and 
energies  to  meet  the  demands  of  business. 

Our  Student  Volunteers  ask  for  no  favors.  But  they  do 
expect  prompt  and  efficient  methods  to  be  used  in  looking 
after  those  who  have  dedicated  their  lives  to  the  work  of  the 
Church  abroad.  When  in  response  to  the  calls  which  have 
been  presented  and  to  the  inspiration  which  comes  through 
various  influences  brought  to  bear,  a  student  decides  often- 
times after  many  severe  struggles,  that  he  will  go  to  some  mis- 
sion field  and  in  the  glow  of  that  decision  he  writes  the  office 
of  his  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  he  should  have  a  prompt 
and  sympathetic  reply  intelligently  dealing  with  the  questions 
raised.  He  has  made  the  greatest  gift  which  he  can  make 
to  the  cause.  He  offers  his  life.  The  letter  which  bears  that 
offer  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference  to  him.  He  has  given  him- 
self and  whatever  talents  he  possesses  to  the  work,  and  it 
should  not  be  dealt  with  lightly  when  it  reaches  the  office  of 
the  Board.  Some  one  should  be  connected  with  that  Board 
whose  primary  business  it  is  to  see  that  such  a  communication 
receives  the  attention  it  requires.  But  when  the  applicant 
receives  a  routine  acknowledgment  stating  that  the  Secre- 
tary is  away  and  will  give  attention  on  his  return, 'etc.,  etc., 
it  does  not  generate  enthusiasm  for  the  Board.  The  result 
of  it  is  that  a  coldness  grows  up  on  th-e  part  of  that  prospective 

63 


The   Selection  of  Candidates 

missionary  towards  his  Board  at  the  very  time  when  he  greatly 
needs  encouragement  and  direction.  To  be  sure  that  appH- 
cant  may  not  be  quaHfied ;  but  we  are  not  going  to  find  men 
and  women  who  are  quaUfied  unless  we  deal  with  all  of  them. 

Furthermore,  in  the  future  we  must  supervise  and  direct 
the  training  of  our  foreign  missionary  workers  if  we  expect 
to  have  them.  The  work  is  rapidly  growing  more  highly 
specialized.  We  understand  better  than  ever  before  the  train- 
ing required.  Men  and  women  are  not  going  in  for  such 
training  unless  they  know  there  is  a  reasonable  prospect  of 
being  accepted.  The  young  man  or  young  woman  wants  at 
that  time  information  in  regard  to  the  work  to  which  h€  has 
committed  his  life,  and  he  wants  it  from  the  person  whom 
he  believes  is  to  have  the  authority  to  speak  for  his  work. 
He  needs  guidance  as  to  his  professional  training,  as  to  the 
elective  which  he  shall  choose  in  his  next  year's  course ;  since 
he  plans  to  be  a  missionary  h-e  wants  to  know  whether  he  shall 
go  into  medicine,  whether  he  shall  go  into  teaching  or  theology, 
and  he  needs  advice  as  to  tlie  course  which  he  ought  to  choose. 
He  looks  to  the  Board  for  that  kind  of  guidance.  He  is  sadly 
disappointed  when  he  does  not  get  it  promptly.  To  the  Sec- 
retary who  has  so  many  different  interests  to  serve,  the  delay 
of  a  reply  for  a  week  or  two  may  seem  unimportant,  but 
to  the  candidate  who  has  made  this  decision  a  delay  in  the 
reply  seems  very  serious.  He  has  put  his  whole  life  into  the 
proposition  and  he  expects  s-erious  and  prompt  consideration 
to  be  given  to  the  statement  of  his  plans  and  purposes  and  all 
his  inquiries.  He  is  loyal  to  his  Board.  He  is  teachable. 
His  confidence  is  such  that  he  will  accept  usually  without  a 
question  the  suggestions  from  the  Secretary  as  to  plans  for 
preparation  to  be  made.  He  expects  therefore  that  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  Board  will  deal  with  him  with  that  authority 
which  comes  from  knowledge,  the  knowledge  of  the  field 
such  as  Dr.  White  described  to  us  this  morning;  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  conditions  which  exist  on  that  field  and  the  prepa- 
ration which  he  must  make  if  he  is  to  be  ready  for  that  work. 

He  looks  to  the  Secretaries  of  the  Board  for  an  interpreta- 
tion of  the  work  of  the  Board,  given  to  him  in  a  sympathetic, 
understanding  way.  Every  Student  Volunteer  should  feel — 
and  I  would  like  to  lay  very  great  emphasis  on  this — that  he 
is  a  part  of  the  enterprise.  A  Student  Volunteer  recently 
wrote  to  me  after  receiving  a  letter  from  Dr.  White  of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  that  "Dr.  White's  letter  made  me  feel  as  if 
I  belonged  to  the  Presbyterian  Board."  When  Student  Vol- 
unteers feel  that  they  belong  to  their  Board,  they  will  be  ready 
to  do  whatever  the  Secretary  may  suggest  in  the  way  of  prepa- 
ration.    And  this  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Student  Volun- 

64 


The   Selection   of  Candidntes 

teer  is  one  of  tl:e  greatest  assets  of  the  Board.  When  Student 
Volunteers  feel  this  way,  it  is  the  fault  of  the  Board  if  they 
do  not  secure  the  training  necessary  to  fit  them  for  the  work 
of  the  Board. 

Then  the  Student  Volunteer  wants  the  Board  to  remember 
that  he  is  immature  and  is  in  the  process  of  development. 
May  I  refer  to  an  experience  which  I  had  with  the  Secretary 
of  a  Board  some  years  ago,  who  asked  me  to  suggest  a  man  for 
an  opening  in  one  of  his  fields?  I  suggested  the  name  of  a 
recent  graduate  of  one  of  the  Western  universities.  Soon 
after  the  Secretary  went  on  a  journey  in  the  West  and  ar- 
ranged to  see  the  young  man  I  had  suggested.  When  I  saw 
him  next  I  asked  him  if  he  saw  the  young  man.  In  reply  he 
said,  "Yes,  I  saw  him,  and  it  didn't  take  me  long  to  decide 
that  I  didn't  want  him."  Now  the  sequel  to  this  story  is  that 
five  years  afterwards  this  man  was  accepted  by  that  Board, 
sent  out  to  one  of  their  most  important  fields,  and  is  to-day 
one  of  the  most  valued  leaders  of  that  Board.  I  learned 
afterwards  that  in  response  to  a  telegram  the  young  man  had 
met  the  Secretary  at  the  railway  station.  The  opportunity 
which  the  Secretary  had  to  study  this  Student  Volunteer  was 
limited  to  a  brief  period  between  trains  in  a  railway  station. 
The  Secretary  had  so  many  responsibilities  which  loomed 
larger  in  his  thought  at  the  time  that  he  did  not  deal  fairly 
with  that  Student  Volunteer.  Had  the  Secretary  taken  the 
time  necessary  he  would  have  reached  another  decision  as 
subsequent  events  proved  and  that  young  man  would  have 
begun  his  work  several  years  earlier. 

Most  Student  Volunteers  prefer  that  the  Board  take  the 
initiative  in  calling  them  for  specific  positions.  What  was 
said  this  morning  in  regard  to  the  selective  draft  as  applied  to 
selecting  men  and  women  for  missionary  work  is  true.  I  recall 
a  conversation  I  had  with  a  Student  Volunteer  regarding  his 
mission  field.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  College,  of 
Johns  Hopkins  Medical,  and  he  had  had  two  years  in  the 
hospital.  I  said,  "Why  aren't  you  going  out  under  your  own 
Board?"  He  said,  "Dr.  So-and-So,  the  Secretary,  knows  me; 
he  has  known  me  since  I  was  a  student  in  Princeton.  I  have 
been  a  guest  in  his  house.  I  have  talked  with  him  on  various 
occasions.  He  never  has  intimated  at  any  time  that  he  would 
like  to  have  me  go  out  under  our  Board.  I  have  thought  it 
very  strange.  Under  the  circumstances  I  cannot  apply  to  my 
Board." 

Now,  that  man  needed  the  selective  draft  process.  He 
needed  the  suggestion  from  his  friend  the  Secretary.  There 
are  many  men  and  women  of  that  type,  well  qualified  for  this 
work,  but  who  hesitate.     They  have  the  feeling  that  it  is  not 

6.=; 


The  .Selection  of  Candidates 

good  form  to  propose  yourself  for  some  very  important  work. 
Such  men  need  to  be  approached. 

However,  in  ah  our  talk  about  the  selective  draft  for  mis- 
sionaries, we  must  remember  that  the  Boards  have  no  power  to 
compel  service.  We  should  not  get  confused  on  that  point. 
Laws  passed  by  Congress  conferred  on  the  U.  S.  War  De- 
partment the  authority  to  compel  service  in  the  army.  Our 
Mission  Boards  do  not  have  that  power.  There  must  exist  or 
be  created  in  the  young  man  and  young  woman  the  missionary 
motive  before  they  will  respond  to  our  selective  draft  propo- 
sition. It  is  one  thing  to  extend  a  call  to  undertake  a  piece 
of  work  on  the  field,  but  if  there  is  not  present  as  a  driving 
force  the  motive  for  foreign  missionary  service  the  call  will 
be  respectfully  declined.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  experience 
on  this  subject.  We  must  keep  ever  before  vis  the  necessity 
of  the  work  which  helps  to  plant  this  purpose  to  become  mis- 
sionaries. This  is  the  work  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment. This  work  does  not  always  result  in  actual  volunteer- 
ing, but  it  has  rendered  a  great  service  in  preparing  the  way 
even  among  those  who  do  not  volunteer  for  men  and  women 
to  respond  favorably  to  the  selective  draft  processes. 

We  have  passed  into  a  period  of  specialization  in  missions. 
That  is  on-e  of  the  reasons  why  our  problem  is  so  difficult. 
In  many  of  the  fields  we  are  no  longer  in  the  position  where 
we  can  take  workers  who  do  not  have  special  preparation  and 
send  them  out  to  the  mission  fields  as  raw  recruits.  In  the 
earlier  stages  of  mission  work  this  had  to  be  done.  The  very 
success  of  the  work  on  the  field  makes  it  necessary  to  send  out 
men  and  women  qualified  to  meet  the  conditions  which  exist 
in  the.  field  at  the  present  time.  As  Mr.  Lobenstine  has  just 
been  pointing  out,  to  get  the  best  results  in  education  we  must 
train  the  men  to  go  into  the  educational  work.  We  can  no 
longer  take  the  man  out  of  the  theological  seminary  and  send 
him  out  to  do  the  educational  work. 

The  Student  X'olunteer  wants  the  Board  to  make  such  a 
study  of  his  qualifica,tions  that  mistakes  will  not  be  made 
when  he  is  assigned  to  his  work  and  to  his  field.  When 
an  applicant  puts  himself  without  question  into  the  hands  of 
the  Board  and  accepts  the  decision  which  the  Board  makes 
.  as  to  his  future,  he  has  the  right  to  know  that  the  most 
•  careful  and  prayerful  study  of  his  qualifications  and  train- 
ing have  been  made  and  that  he  has  been  assigned  to  the 
place  where  he  can  do  his  best  w^ork — at  least  so  far  as  any 
of  us  have  a  right  to  expect  human  judgments  to  make  right 
decisions.  I  fear  that  care  has  not  always  been  exercised 
in  assigning  men  to  their  fields.  There  comes  to  mind  a  Stu- 
dent  Volunteer,    who,   after  a   brilliant   career   in   the   medi- 

66 


The   Seleetion   of   Candldatex 

cal  school  and  in  the  hospital,  had  developed  into  a  remark- 
able surgeon.  He  was  accepted  by  his  Board  and  sent  to 
work  in  a  mission  field  where  he  was  assigned  to  the  work 
of  an  itinerating  medical  missionary,  where  the  work  was 
exceedingly  important,  but  for  the  man  in  question  a  very 
unfortunate  use  of  that  man's  talents.  That  man  came  very 
near  resigning  and  coming  home,  not  because  he  was  disloyal  to 
his  Board  or  to  the  work,  but  because  he  felt  a  mistake  had 
been  made  in  his  assignment.  Fortunately  the  way  opened 
for  him  to  go  to  a  mission  hospital  and  medical  school,  where 
he  is  to-day  a  Professor  of  Surgery  and  in  charge  of  the 
surgical  department  of  that  hospital.  That  man  would  have 
been  lost  to  the  work  if  this  way  had  not  opened  up  for  him 
to  get  into  the  kind  of  work  for  which  he  was  peculiarly  fitted 
by  training  and  temperament.  Sufficient  attention  had  not 
been  given  to  a  study  of  that  man's  qualifications. 

In  concluding  this  statement  of  the  problem  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  Student  Volunteer  may  I  sum  up  briefly  what 
our  Student  Volunteers  have  a  right  to  expect  their  Boards  to 
do  as  follows : 

(i)  To  begin  with  every  one  of  these  young  men  and 
women  who  volunteer  at  the  very  moment  that  they  decide 
they  want  to  be  missionaries  (at  least  as  soon  as  their  names 
are  brought  to  our  attention),  and  deal  with  them  as  earn- 
estly, as  conscientiously  as  if  we  expected  to  send  them  out 
the  next  week.  The  Freshman  who  will  not  be  ready  for  five 
or  six  years  deserves  as  much  attention  as  the  senior  who 
will  be  available  to-morrow.  But  under  our  present  system, 
we  spend  our  time  on  the  senior,  or  the  man  who  will  be 
available  during  the  current  year,  forgetting  that  there  is 
going  to  be  a  period  of  five  or  six  years  hence  when  we  are 
going  to  need  the  man  who  this  year  has  just  decided  that 
he  wants  to  be  a  missionary. 

(2)  To  keep  in  sympathetic  touch  with  him  by  correspon- 
dence and  as  often  as  possible  in  personal  interview  all 
through  his  period  of  preparation,  encouraging,  advising  and 
directing  his  training. 

(3)  To  be  frank  in  telling  him,  as  soon  as  it  becomes  evi- 
dent, that  he  does  not  have  the  qualifications  necessary  for 
foreign  mission  work. 

(4)  To  study  his  qualifications  and  training  and  assign  him 
to  the  work  and  the  field  where  he  can  find  the  largest  scope 
for  his  talents. 

(5)  To  seek  qualified  men  and  women  wherever  they  are 
to  be  found  (whether  Student  Volunteers  or  not),  and  after 
being  satisfied  as  to  their  qualifications  extend  to  them  definite 
calls  to  specific  positions  on  the  mission  fields, 

67 


The   Selection   of   Candidates 

(6)  To  organize  the  work  of  the  Candidate  Department 
with  an  adequate  staff  so  that  every  Student  Vohuiteer  will 
receive  promptly  the  help  which  he  needs  in  his  attempts  to 
prepare  himself  for  foreign  missionary  service. 

However  much  we  may  delay  organizing  the  candidate  work 
of  our  Boards  to  render  such  service  to  the  young  men  and 
women  who  believe  that  they  should  become  missionaries 
sooner  or  later  we  will  find  it  necessary  if  we  are  to  get  the 
workers  needed.  Even  then  we  will  have  difficulties  enough  in 
our  effort  to  find  all  the  qualified  workers  needed.  If  that  is  to 
be  done  we  must  have  officers  who  are  not  so  burdened  with 
other  responsibilities  that  they  cannot  give  adequate  atten- 
tion to  the  training  and  selection  of  candidates. 


THE  SELECTION  OF  CANDIDATES  FOR 

SPECIAL   POSITIONS   ON   THE 

MISSION  FIELD 

By  Rev.  Cornelius  H.  Patton,  D.D.,  Boston 

i  have  just  had  placed  in  my  hands  an  envelope  containing 
a  thousand  dollars  in  War  Savings  Stamps,  from  a  lady  who  is 
interested  in  our  work.  This  good  lady  several  years  ago  hap- 
pened to  meet  one  of  our  medical  missionaries  from  Turkey, 
Dr.  Shepard,  and  the  ability  and  character  of  that  man  so 
impressed  her  that  she  then  and  there  conceived  a  great  in- 
terest in  missionary  work.  This  gift  of  $i,ooo  is  to  be  cred- 
ited to  Dr.  Shepard's  personality. 

I  wonder  if  you  have  thought  what  an  important  bearing 
it  has  upon  the  cultivation  of  the  home  field  that  w^e  should  be 
exceedingly  careful  about  the  men  and  women  we  select  as 
missionaries. 

A  while  ago  I  received  a  gift  of  ten  thousand  dollars  from 
a  man  because  he  heard  two  distinguished  missionaries  from 
China.  He  said,  "I  never  dreamed  that  men  of  such  ability 
and  power  were  going  out  to  work  among  the  Chinese."  But 
r-emember  there  are  men  who  have  obtained  the  opposite  im- 
pression of  missionaries.  I  am  convinced  that  a  good  deal  of 
the  indifference  and  unbelief  in  respect  to  foreign  missions 
is  due  to  the  unfortunate  impressions  made  by  mediocre  mis- 
sionaries while  on  furlough.  The  reaction  upon  the  home 
church  when  you  send  out  inferior  people  in  the  matter  of 
personality  and  ability  is  an  important  factor  in  our  dis- 
cussions. 

68 


The   Selection   of  Candidates 

While  sitting  here  this  morning  I  jotted  down  the  different 
kinds  of  missionary  candidates  with  whom  I  have  dealt  in  the 
last  seven  days.  I  did  this  purely  from  memory,  I  may  have 
overlooked  quite  a  number;  hut  those  I  recall  having  dealt 
with  during  the  past  week  are :  a  physical  work  director  from 
Massachusetts,  a  bacteriologist  from  California,  a  business 
agent  from  Kansas,  a  hospital  manager  from  Massachusetts,  a 
bank  cashier  from  Vermont,  an  electrical  engineer  from  New 
York,  a  woman  educator  from  Canada,  and  I  meet  this  eve- 
ning a  group  of  doctors  and  nurses  in  one  of  the  New  York 
hospitals.  Curiously  enough  there  is  not  a  minister  in  the  list, 
not  one  ordained  man  appears  there.  Bvit  of  course  that  was 
a  mere  accident,  since  the  ordained  missionaries  have  been 
and  are  the  backbone  of  the  work.  Now,  such  a  list  as  that 
was  unheard  of  fourteen  years  ago,  when  I  came  int-o  this 
work.  We  had  then  our  simple  classification  of  missionaries 
very  much  as  it  had  been  for  fifty  to  seventy-five  years. 

What  are  the  causes  of  this  specialization?  I  have  jotted 
down  four.  First,  the  development  of  education  in  the  United 
States.  I  refer  to  the  high  degree  of  specialization  in  our 
colleges  and  professional  schools.  These  candidates  are  the 
products  of  this  process.  If  you  object  to  the  situation,  if 
you  wish  you  had  more  general  workers,  your  quarrel  is  not 
with  them  but  with  the  American  system  of  education ;  it  is 
with  the  times  in  which  you  live.  Don't  lay  it  up  against 
these  young  people  if  they  come  to  you  as  physicists,  chem- 
ists, social  workers,  physical  directors,  business  managers ; 
they  have  been  made  what  they  are  by  the  curriculum  in  their 
colleges. 

Second,  the  demand  for  efficiency  in  the  business  world 
puts  a  tremendous  emphasis  upon  a  person  being  able  to 
do  one  thing  and  to  do  it  well.  Specialized  efficiency  is  in- 
grained in  the  minds  of  our  young  people.  They  no  longer 
are  willing  to  be  generally  useful. 

I  would  mention  the  third  cause,  the  woman's  movement. 
There  are  two  daughters  in  my  home,  one  of  them  has  re- 
cently graduated  from  college,  and  my  wife  and  I  comforted 
ourselves  with  the  idea  of  her  spending  several  years  with 
us  in  the  home.  Not  a  bit  of  it.  She  proposes  to  have  a 
profession,  and  in  a  few  weeks  she  is  coming  down  here  to 
New  York  to  enter  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  Training  School 
for  Nurses.  Down  in  my  heart  I  honor  her  for  it.  The 
other  one  is  in  college.  When  she  came  home  recently  she 
informed  us  she  intended  to  become  a  bacteriologist — of  all 
things.  Where  she  ever  got  that  notion,  I  don't  know.  She 
never  got  it  in  our  house.  I  lay  it  up  to  the  woman's  move- 
ment. 

69 


The   Selectluii   ot  CaiKlidates 

This  thing  is  in  the  very  atmosphere  of  our  colleges.  These 
girls  are  going  to  have  a  profession,  and  when  they  offer 
themselves  to  mission  boards  they  are  going  to  offer  them- 
selves in  a  professional  capacity. 

Fourth,  the  development  of  the  work  on  the  foreign  field. 
As  boards,  we  have  not  kept  pace  with  the  specialization  at 
home,  but  we  have  made  a  good  deal  of  progress.  We  have 
departmentalized  most  of  our  missions  and  we  are  specializing 
in  each  department.  We  employ  practically  every  class  of 
educator  now,  and  these  young  people,  of  course,  know  that 
fact.  They  are  coming  to  us  as  specialists  becavise  of  the 
demand   for  specialists. 

To  pass  to  the  problems  which  are  raised  by  this  tendency, 
I  have  noted  five.  The  first  is,  how  to  secure  real  but  not  nar- 
row specialists.  I  agree  thoroughly  with  what  Dr.  Sanders  has 
said  about  our  not  desiring  missionaries  who  are  such  ardent 
specialists  that  they  can  think  only  in  the  terms  of  their  own 
profession.  Such  workers  are  disqualified  from  taking  broad, 
comprehensive  views  of  life.  We  don't  want  such,  and  yet 
we  want  genuine  specialists.  We  want,  as  one  of  the  speak- 
ers said,  to  send  into  the  foreign  field  our  best.  We  must  get 
rid  of  the  idea,  here  are  some  people  who  would  not  be 
of  much  account  at  home,  but  may  do  in  India  or  Africa.  I 
wonder  if  we  are  entirely  free  from  that  notion.  I  know 
that  the  persons  to  whom  we  write  for  testimonials  are  not 
free  from  it.  I  have  discovered  again  and  again,  when  I 
begin  to  probe,  that  a  person  will  say  of  this  particular  spe- 
cialist, "Oh,  well,  he  is  not  of  much  account,  but  he  will  do 
all  right  for  foreign  missions." 

We  need  to  be  on  our  guard  against  forcing  a  candidate 
into  a  position  which  needs  filling  sorely,  but  for  which  that 
person  is  not  well  qualified.  We  are  in  danger  of  doing  the 
mission  a  great  injury  and  the  candidate  a  greater  injury 
by  yielding  to  pressure  and  placing  general  workers  in  posi- 
tions where  only  specialists  can  succeed.  Our  Board  made 
that  mistake  a  while  ago.  A  hospital  needed  a  business  man- 
ager. Here  was  a  man  for  whom  we  had  been  trying  to  find 
a  place  for  a  long  time.  He  didn't  fit  any  particular  job,  but 
was  an  earnest  fellow  and  determined  to  reach  the  field.  We 
thought  he  might  do  as  a  hospital  business  manager.  We  took 
the  risk  and  sent  him  out.  It  was  not  six  months  before  he 
demonstrated  himself  to  be  more  of  a  nuisance  than  a  help, 
and  had  to  be  sent  home.  Think  of  the  cost  of  that  experi- 
ment. 

Here  is  a  college  asking  for  a  physicist.  Now,  a  physicist 
isn't  a  chemist,  or  a  teacher  of  zoology,  and  just  because  a 
young  man  did  take  physics  seven  or  eight  years  back  doesn't 

70 


The   Selection   of  Candidates 

mean  that  he  is  capable  of  teaching  that  subject.  If  you 
send  out  such  a  man  he  will  soon  be  discredited.  You  are 
not  doing  the  college  any  benefit ;  you  are  not  doing  him  any 
benefit. 

Another  problem  which  will  be  in  the  minds  of  all  is  that 
of  securing  a  true  missionary  purpose  on  the  part  of  these 
special  workers.  I  know  there  is  a  feeling  among  some 
of  the  Secretaries  that  there  is  not  the  same  degree  of  con- 
secration on  the  part  of  specialists  as  there  is  on  the  part 
of  the  old-time,  all-around  missionary.  One  secretary  made 
this  remark:  "We  used  to  have  young  people  coming  to  us 
offering  their  lives  ;  to-day  they  come  to  us  seeking  for  posi- 
tions." The  implication  was  that  the  candidates  were  try- 
ing to  get  rather  than  to  give.  We  need  to  be  on  guard  against 
doing  a  great  injustice  to  these  young  people.  It  is  not  a 
question  with  them  as  to  consecration ;  it  is  a  question  as  to 
what  they  shall  consecrate.  Shall  they  consecrate  some  ficti- 
tious life  which  they  don't  possess,  which  the  Mission  Board 
thinks  they  ought  to  possess,  or  shall  they  consecrate  the 
actual  life  which  God  has  given  them?  Shall  they  go  into 
a  work  for  which  they  are  providentially  fitted,  for  which 
they  have  struggled  and  sacrificed  many  years,  or  shall  they 
try  to  make  themselves  believe  that  they  should  attempt  some- 
thing quite  different?  Who  has  the  right  to  call  the  volun- 
tary dislocation  of  one's  life  plans   consecration? 

And  yet  there  is  a  danger  there — there  is  no  question  about 
that.  There  is  the  danger  of  an  undue  degree  of  profes- 
sionalism creeping  in.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  strict  specialist  is 
liable  to  be  somewhat  narrowed,  not  only  in  his  outlook  upon 
life,  but  also  in  his  spiritual  and  moral  enthusiasm.  He  has 
devoted  himself  so  intensely  to  a  particular  department  of 
learning  that  the  other  departments  have  been  passed  by. 
The  atmosphere  of  many  of  our  professional  schools  is  not 
at  all  helpful  in  that  matter.  The  students  find  themselves  in 
an  environment  which  tends  to  drag  them  down  from  their 
early  enthusiasms  and  purposes.  We  should  seek  to  protect 
the  spirituality  of  our  special  candidates  in  every  possible 
way. 

I  remember  we  once  sent  out  a  doctor  to  China,  a  brilliant 
fellow,  particularly  expert  in  laboratory  work.  We  thought 
we  had  tested  him  thoroughly  in  the  matter  of  his  missionary 
purpose,  and  yet  the  senior  doctor  of  the  hospital  told  me 
that  when  the  new  doctor  arrived  he  remarked,  'T  came  out 
here  to  get  medical  experience.  I  didn't  come  here  to  be 
a  missionary." 

Another  problem  is  to  secure  proper  team  work  in  the  field, 
in  view  of  the  increasingly  minute  division  of  the  work.     A 

71 


The   Selection   of  Candidates 

person  who  has  a  sharply  marked  specialty  is  bound  to  feel 
a  personal  responsibility  for  his  department.  This  may  easily 
pass  into  a  proprietary  feeling.  It  is  easy  for  him  to  resent 
the  supervision  of  the  mission.  In  the  case  of  a  doctor,  by 
the  nature  of  the  case  he  must  be  supreme  in  his  hospital, 
and  yet  where  his  work  touches  that  of  others  he  must  have 
regard  to  the  general  good.  There  are  certain  specialties 
where  the  principle  of  coordination  must  be  guarded  with 
very  great  care.  That  can  be  done,  and  yet  the  worker  be 
given  proper  freedom  in  his  own  realm. 

1  will  mention  certain  administrative  problems  which  are 
in  our  minds.  In  the  matter  of  passing  upon  the  qualifications 
of  specialists  we  need  to  be  exceedingly  careful.  It  is  much 
easier  to  estimate  the  ability  of  a  general  worker  than  it  is 
to  estimate  the  value  of  one  who  has  chosen  a  definite  line  of 
service.  When  a  specialist  missionary  fails  he  is  a  complete 
failure. 

My  own  Board  uses  three  different  blanks  in  the  securing  of 
testimonials.  We  have  one  for  general  male  workers,  we 
have  one  for  doctors,  and  we  have  one  for  women  workers. 
You  could  subdivide  still  further.  If  you  use  a  general  form 
you  should  have  in  it  a  very  searching  question  relating  to 
the  efficiency  of  the  worker  in  his  own  chosen  line,  and  there 
should  be  special  correspondence  on  that  subject.  And  be- 
cause the  specialty  may  be  quite  outside  your  own  experience, 
it  is  highly  important  that  you  should  have  an  interview  not 
only  with  the  candidate  and  see  him  in  the  midst  of  his  work, 
but  learn  from  those  associated  in  the  work  as  to  the  impres- 
sion which  he  has  made. 

The  right  of  the  Board  to  locate  the  candidate  is  an  im- 
portant matter.  In  the  case  of  many  of  the  Boards  that  right 
remains  in  the  mission.  The  Board  appoints  to  the  mission 
and  the  mission  assigns  the  task  and  the  location.  That  is 
proper  in  the  case  of  general  workers,  but  it  has  its  disad- 
vantages when  we  come  to  special  workers.  I  think  it  is  very 
appropriate  to  ask  the  mission,  when  they  are  calling  for  spe- 
cialists to  surrender  their  right  of  determination.  The  spe- 
cial candidate  invariably  wishes  to  know  the  position  which  he 
is  to  fill.  If  the  Board  says,  "We  can't  assure  you  of  the 
chance  to  follow  your  chosen  line  of  work,"  the  candidate  is 
likely  to  go  elsewhere — nor  can  we  blame  him. 

I  feel  that  if  a  Board  cannot  place  advantageously  one  of 
its  own  young  people,  it  should  without  any  hesitanc}^,  in  fact 
with  the  utmost  cordiality,  recommend  the  candidate  to  some 
other  Board.  If  we  cannot  locate  a  person  where  he  can  use 
to  the  best  advantage  his  special  training  and  gifts,  we  ought 
to  allow  some  other  Board  to  have  the  chance.     I  think  we 

7? 


The   Selection   of   CautlidateH 

ought  to  be  generous  in  that  matter  of  passing  over  candi- 
dates whom  we  cannot  place  at  a  given  time. 

The  final  problem  I  can  hardly  do  more  than  touch  on. 
That  is  the  guiding  and  training  of  these  young  people.  A 
great  deal  might  be  said  on  this  point.  I  will  pass  by  all  sug- 
gestions regarding  technical  training,  and  emphasize  that  we 
should  guide  with  great  care  the  religious  life  and  training  of 
our  special  workers.  Whatever  line  of  work  they  may  fol- 
low, they  must  be  made  to  realize  that  they  are  missionaries 
of  Christ  first,  last  and  all  the  time.  Whatever  may  be  their 
tool,  their  task  is  to  transmit  the  Christian  religion.  Now 
the  ordinary  college  graduate  does  not  know  what  the 
Christian  religion  is.  He  doesn't  know  Christianity  on  its 
philosophical,  its  historical,  or  its  practical  side.  He  has  not 
mastered  his  own  faith.  I  am  more  and  more  inclined  to  think 
that  we  should  insist  that  our  specialists  should  take  at  least 
one'  year  in  a  mission  training  school  where  they  can  study 
Christianity  as  a  system  of  truth  and  practice.  Such  a  course 
would  save  them  from  some  painful  embarrassments.  Im- 
agine the  ordinary  college  graduate  discussing-  religion  with 
an  educated  Brahman  or  Mohammedan.  If  I  ask  many  of  our 
specialist  candidates  what  are  the  fundamental  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, they  cannot  tell  you.  I  have  tried  it  again  and  again. 
I  have  repeatedly  asked  young  people  what  they  consider  to 
be  the  great  principles  of  Christianity,  and  as  a  rule  they  have 
not  mentioned  sin  and  redemption.  They  make  much  of  serv- 
ice, and  they  reveal  a  splendid  spirit  of  devotion,  but  as  for 
knowing  Christianity  as  a  thing  to  be  understood  and  trans- 
mitted, they  are  helplessly  ignorant.  A  Board  should  at  least 
require  a  reading  course  for  such  candidates.  Our  Board  does 
that.  We  have  a  carefully  selected  list  of  books,  not  over- 
technical,  that  any  doctor  or  educator  or  nurse  could  readily 
cover  in  a  year  and  tmderstand,  and  we  ask  the  candidate  to 
report  upon  his  reading.  Perhaps  some  day  we  shall  follow 
the  example  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  and  require 
an  examination  upon  the  reading  course.  The  Missionary 
Training  School,  however,  should  be  the  solution  of  this 
problem. 


SHORT  TERM  WORKERS 

By  Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  D.D.,  New  York 

As  the  subject  was  sent  to  me,  it  seemed  to  resolve  itself 
into  a  question  as  to  how  expedient  it  is  to  send  missionaries 
into  the   foreign   fields   for  a   short  term.     While   of   course 

n 


The    Seleotloii    of   Candidates 

everybody  understands  the  difficulty  that  is  involved  in  that 
question  of  requiring  people  to  devote  their  life  to  this  par- 
ticular undertaking,  when  they  have  not  the  least  idea  as  to 
whether  they  can  accommodate  themselves  to  it,  or  whether  it 
will  answer  to  their  particular  personality,  or  whether  they, 
with  all  their  good  intention,  can  fit  into  this  place,  yet  the 
longer  I  have  observed  the  work  that  our  own  Church  is  doing, 
or  the  work  that  is  done  by  other  Boards,  the  more  clear  has 
become  my  judgment  against  the  propriety  or  usefulness,  or 
charity,  if  I  may  so  speak,  of  sending  people  for  a  short  term. 
Now,  when  I  say  this,  I  do  not  mean  to  include  some  excep- 
tional situation  where  a  man  is  sent  out  because  somebody  is 
ill  and  there  must  be  some  one  to  carry  on  until  the  man  re- 
turns ;  but  under  ordinary  circumstances  my  own  observation 
is  that  it  is  not  only  putting  young  people  in  a  wrong  position, 
in  a  position  where  it  is  not  fair  to  expect  them  to  understand 
and  to  make  good,  but  it  is  questionable  in  its  influence  on' the 
very  work  which  the  Church  was  sent  to  do.  And  in  order  to 
bear  me  out,  I  must  ask  you  to  see  it  from  the  point  of  view 
from  which  I  consider  the  question. 

What  is  the  mission  to  which  Christ  committed  His  body? 
Now,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  you  will  agree  with  me,  but  I 
believe  with  all  my  heart  that  what  we  were  sent  to  bring  peo- 
ple are  the  things  that  we  heard,  and  the  things  that  we  saw, 
in  order  that  people  might  have  some  kind  of  grip  on  the 
essential  revelation  as  to  what  our  Father  in  heaven  is  like. 

In  other  words,  I  believe  the  whole  business  of  the  Church 
of  God  is  to  interpret  Jesus  to  the  people  who  never  heard  Him 
and  whom  He  has  redeemed.  I  believe  that  everybody, 
whether  he  is  priest,  or  teacher,  or  expert,  or  specialist,  goes 
for  just  one  definite  purpose :  In  order  that  the  service  to 
which  he  personally  has  been  called  may  be  his  means  of  inter- 
preting for  the  man  who  observes  him,  the  revelation  which 
the  Christ  showed  in  His  life  and  in  His  death  and  in  His 
resurrection.  That  is  all  his  service  can  mean  to  a  missionary. 
And  the  consequence  is  that  anybody  without  this  point  of 
view  going  into  any  place  where  the  Christ  is  not  known  in 
order  that  he  may  teach  people  how  to  read,  or  to  be  me- 
chanics, or  to  use  a  chemical  laboratory,  or  to  heal  diseases,  is 
actually  misleading  the  people  he  goes  to,  not  because  he  is 
not  Christian,  but  because  he  does  not  know  the  part  learning 
must  play  in  human  development.  It  may  be  all  right  for  the 
United  States  of  America  to  separate  science  from  Christian- 
ity, or  to  separate  education  from  religion,  to  separate  ma- 
terial development  from  spiritual  development.  I  believe  it  is 
a  constant  loss  to  America,  but  the  situation  can  be  saved 
because  the  people  are  Christian  and  they  will  interpret.     But 

74 


The   Selection   of   Candidates 

if  we  go  into  China  and  teach  the  Chinese  people  that  the  only 
thing  they  need  is  material  development,  I  am  sure  there  is  no 
more  subtle  damage  that  you  can  do  to  the  character  of  the 
Chinese  Republic. 

Suppose  you  send  young  men  or  young  women  for  a  short 
term : — they  have  grown  up  with  the  American  idea  that  we 
must  all  be  efficient  and,  therefore,  we  must  know.  They  go 
with  the  very  best  intention,  to  teach  the  thing  they  have  been 
thoroughly  prei)ared  for.  i>ut  they  have  not  been  taught  why 
it  is  worth  while  to  render  this  service.  They  are  ready  to  help 
people  and  they  are  essentially  Christian,  but  they  do  not  un- 
derstand why  Christianity  must  of  necessity  be  received  be- 
fore learning  is  effectual.  They  go  to  teach  with  conscien- 
tious fidelity  what  they  have  been  instructed  in,  and  without 
intending  it,  they  lead  astray  those  whom  they  instruct.  They 
leave  the  impression  that  the  gift  which  God  gave  us  can  be 
developed  apart  from  the  truth  which  makes  it  worth  while. 

I  am  sure  that  when  people  go  to  serve  as  missionaries  they 
ought  to  go  having  their  heart  set  on  showing  to  others  the 
wonderful  revelation  that  gave  them  their  liberty  and  made 
their  life  worth  having  and  living,  and  when  people  do  that 
they  do  not  desire  to  be  short  term  missionaries. 

This  is  the  impulse  which  has  driven  all  the  people  who  have 
come  under  my  observation  desiring  to  give  themselves  to  the 
foreign  field  and  who  have  carried  blessing  to  the  people.  They 
have  been  showed  by  our  Lord  in  themselves  what  human 
nature  is  capable  of  learning  and  what  human  life  can  grow 
into,  and  by  some  means  they  have  wanted  to  show  these  things 
to  other  people.  This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  compelling  argu- 
ment against  short  terms. 

As  to  whether  it  is  economical  seems  to  be  entirely  unim- 
portant. I  have  seen  the  finest  sort  of  young  men  and  women 
go  into  foreign  work  for  short  terms,  but  I  do  not  recall  one 
who  did  not  return  without  seeming  to  have  lost  something. 
They  have  been  confronted  by  a  problem  they  did  not  under- 
stand, they  had  gone  as  if  to  work  in  the  atmosphere  they  had 
grown  in  and  they  came  back  feeling  their  time  had  been 
wasted,  unable  to  understand  why  their  effort  had  been  futile. 

I  do  not  wish  in  what  I  have  said  to  seem  to  oppose  what 
I  believe  must  come.  It  is  exceedingly  costly,  but  necessary, 
and  the  day  will  come  when  men  and  women  who  stand  for 
the  very  best  in  their  particular  department  of  culture  must  go 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  for  short  terms  to  deliver  series  of 
lectures.  For  instance,  I  would  like  to  send  two  or  three  men 
every  year  to  St.  John's  University,  Shanghai,  for  six  weeks, 
not  only  to  let  the  young  men  who  are  learning  get  a  glimpse 
of  what  it  means  to  be  a  scholar,  but  in  order  that  the  faculty 


The   Selection   of  Candidates 

in  that  university  might  have  the  tremendous  inspiration  oi 
coming  into  contact  with  those  who  Hve  on  the  heights,  where 
they  would  like  to  be,  but  from  which  they  are  held  back  by 
the  conditions  under  which  they  work.  I  would  like  it  if  wom- 
en, selected  just  because  they  are  the  best  expression  of  the 
development  of  a  woman  and  of  a  woman's  work,  might  go  to 
St.  Mary's  Hall  and  deliver  lectures  to  the  young  women  work- 
ing there  to  show  them  what  the  West  is  beginning  to  find  out 
about  the  share  that  women  have  in  solving  the  problems  of 
civilization. 

DISCUSSION 

Prof.  Guy  W.  Sarvis:  While  Bisliop  Lloyd  was  speaking 
I  have  been  thinking  over  the  cases  that  I  could  call  to  mind. 
We  have  two  members  in  the  faculty  of  the  university  who  went  out 
for  short  term  services,  one  in  the  Government  schools  and  the  other 
in  Nanking  University — they  are  there  permanently  now.  My  sister- 
in-law  who  went  out  for  a  short  term  service  after  four  years  wants 
to  go  back  if  she  possibly  can.  Every  one  considers  her  to  be  a 
very  efficient  worker.  I  also  remember  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hargrove  of 
Kaifengfu,  who  did  a  remarkable  work  in  bringing  Government  stu- 
dents into  a  rich  spiritual  life.  I  know  of  nobody  in  China  in  any  kind 
of  work  who  has  been  more  effective.  Two  or  three  others  in  Japan, 
a  number  who  have  gone  out  into  Government  school  service,  come 
to  mind. 

In  a  good  many  cases  it  is  a  good  plan,  especially  in  schools  like  the 
University  of  Nanking,  where  it  is  possible  to  work  in  English.  May 
I  refer  to  two  others :  Dr.  John  F.  Downey,  for  twenty-five  years 
the  Dean  of  the  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  the  University  of 
Minnesota,  was  so  pleased  with  his  work  at  the  University  of  Nanking 
during  the  year  he  had  arranged  to  spend  with  us  that  he  stayed  two 
years.  The  other  is  Dr.  C.  I.  Woodworth,  Head  of  the  Department 
of  Entomology  at  the  University  of  California,  who  came  out  for  a 
short  term.  Can  we  have  more  men  like  these?  They  were  able  to 
render  most  valuable  help  and  we  want  other  men  of  experience  to 
come  to  us. 

Rev.  E.  C.  Lobenstine:  Bishop  Lloyd  has  called  our  attention 
to  a  problem  that  undoubtedly  exists.  My  personal  observation 
would,  however,  lead  me  to  agree  with  Mr.  Sarvis,  for  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  young  men  I  have  met,  who  came  to  China  for 
short  term  service,  made  good  and  some  of  them  were  a  strong 
spiritual  force  in  the  institutions  to  which  they  were  sent.  I  have 
known  of  a  few  cases  where  the  results  were  not  so  happy. 

I  would  like  to  add  a  word  to  what  Bishop  Lloyd  said  about  the 
possibility  of  using  on  the  foreign  field,  for  certain  types  of  work, 
persons  who  have  already  had  some  years  of  professional  experience 
at  home.  Nanking  University  has  had  two  most  successful  instances 
of  short  term  service  by  American  college  professors,  who  have 
spent  a  year  or  more  in  China.  We  are  convinced  that  the  oppor- 
tunities for  using  on  the  mission  field  the  services  of  experienced 
workers  from  the  home  lands  is  constantly  increasing,  and  efforts 
are  being  made  to  arrange  for  the  sending  out  of  college  professors 
to  spend  their  Sabliatical  year  in  connection  with  one  or  more  of  our 
higher    educational    institutions.      We   believe    that    not    only    will    they 

76 


The   Selection   of   Candidates 

be  able  to  do  a  great  deal  of  good  to  those  in  the  country  to  which 
they  go,  but  that  they  will  also  help  the  people  in  this  country  to 
understand  better  conditions  as  they  exist  in  the  Far  East. 

Dr.  Cornelius  H.  Patton:  Our  experience  has  been  quite  different 
from  that  reported  by  Bishop  Lloyd.  It  has  been  a  very  happy  one, 
and  we  are  committed  to  sending  out  carefully  chosen,  consecrated 
young  men,  particularly  for  tutorships  in  our  educational  institu- 
tions. They  take  charge  of  the  athletics  and  social  work  of  the 
schools.  Of  course  they  must  be  assigned  to  places  where  they  can  use 
the  English'  language.  Almost  without  exception  they  become  so 
enamored  of  the  work  that  they  return  home,  take  a  theological 
training,  and  then  go  back  to  the  field  on  a  regular  missionary  ap- 
pointment. As  I  review  the  lists  I  think  of  only  two  who  were  in  any 
sense  failures.  We  have  secured  some  first-rate  missionaries  by  this 
method.  The  experience  is  a  try-out  for  them  and  for  the  Board. 
I  heartily  recommend  the  short  term  service  for  instructors  and 
tutors. 

Bishop  A.  S.  Lloyd:  What  Dr.  Patton  says,  I  thank  God  for.  I 
have  seen  exactly  the  same  thing  happen,  but  I  have  seen  the  other 
thing  happen  also,  and  to  turn  one  young  man  away  from  the  ideal 
that  he  is  trying  to  realize  because  he  is  under  misapprehension,  seems 
to  me  too  great  a  risk,  even  though  the  other  nine  might  be  able  to 
understand  and  make  good.  I  would  rather  be  certain  before  they 
go  that  they  have  given  themselves  to  the  people  they  are  going  to 
serve,  and  then  they  are  safe.  As  to  older  men  there  is  no  such  risk 
and  the  work  needs  their  training  and  experience  to  help  demon- 
strate to  people  who  are  reaching  up  for  high  things,  if  only  to  show 
them  what  it  is  like  for  a  man  to  be  absolutely  master  of  his  own 
intellect. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Anderson:  As  the  discussion  has  gone  on  this  after- 
noon I  have  been  asking  myself  if  we  are  not  to  gain  from  this  meet- 
ing the  study  of  the  science  of  the  selections  of  candidates,  and  I  have 
been  wondering  if  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  could  not  un- 
dertake an  exhaustive  study  of  the  failures  and  successes  of  mission- 
aries. We  have  the  data  in  our  board  offices  to  make  possible  such  a 
study.  We  have  the  record  of  the  persons  who  have  gone  out,  the 
examinations  that  were  taken  at  the  beginning,  we  have  the  record  of 
those  who  have  failed,  and  from  the  fields  we  could  get  a  reasonable 
record  of  their  successes  or  failures,  and  I  do  not  see  why  from  such  a 
study  there  might  not  be  compiled  a  statement  of  what  makes  a  suc- 
cessful missionary.  I  hope  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  can 
undertake  such  a  study. 


n 


THE    USE    OF    THE     FINDINGS,    REPORTS 

AND    LITERATURE    OF   THE    BOARD 

OF  MISSIONARY  PREPARATION 

By  Mr.  George  B.  Huntington,  Boston 

The  findings,  reports  and  literature  issued  by  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Preparation  embody  tlie  results  of  the  most  sys- 
tematic and  thoroughgoing  attempt  to  study  the  problem  of 
the  selection  and  preparation  of  the  candidate  for  foreign  mis- 
sion service  that  has  yet  been  undertaken.  A  considerable  vol- 
ume of  material  has  been  gathered,  covering  in  a  most  com- 
prehensive manner  the  entire  field  of  candidate  qualifications 
and  preparation.  In  producing  this  material  the  Board  has 
performed  a  threefold'  service.  First,  it  has  brought  into 
strong  relief,  so  that  we  can  no  longer  ignore  it  if  we  would, 
the  supreme  importance  of  the  Candidate  Department  in  every 
missionary  Society  or  Board.  Second,  it  has  set  forth  in  clear 
and  suggestive  manner  the  fundamental  qualifications  essential 
in  every  missionary  candidate  and  the  type  and  degree  of 
preparation  required  for  the  most  effective  service  in  each  of 
the  several  spheres  of  missionary  activity.  Third,  it  has  given 
most  valuable  suggestions  as  to  how  and  where  this  prepara- 
tion can  be  secured.  If  the  candidate  secretary  to-day  fails  to 
supply  his  Board  with  the  needed  missionary  candidates,  prop- 
erly trained  and  equipped  for  their  work,  he  cannot  charge  his 
non-success  to  a  lack  of  munitions.  The  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  has  supplied  abundant  and  excellent  material.  It 
remains  for  the  Mission   Boards  to  make  the  best  use  of  it. 

/.  For  the  Education  of  the  Boards. 

One  very  important  use  of  this  material  is  in  the  education 
of  the  Boards  themselves.  How  many  of  us,  I  wonder,  repre- 
sent Boards  which  until  within  a  very  few  years  have  con- 
ducted their  candidate  work  upon  a  "hand  to  mouth"  policy, 
accepting  the  best  of  the  candidates  who  ofifered  themselves 
and  assigning  them  to  the  most  pressing  places  of  need,  leaving 
to  a  beneficent  Providence  the  task  of  enabling  men,  with  in 
most  cases  nothing  but  the  most  general  sort  of  training,  to 
adapt  themselves  to  places  of  service  which  demand  most 
thorough  and  often  s])ccialized  jireparation.  It  is  probably 
well  within  the  truth  to  say  that  few  if  any  of  the  Mission 

78 


Itonrd   f>f   i>li»4siouary  Preparation   T.iU'rntiire 

Boards  in  past  years  have  given  adequate  recognition  to  the 
importance  of  the  candidate  department.  The  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation  through  its  hterature  has  done  and  is 
doing  more  than  any  other  agency,  I  beHeve,  to  impress  upon 
our  Mission  Boards  the  prime  necessity  of  giving  vastly  more 
attention  to  their  missionary  candidates  and  to  lead  the  Boards 
to  take  the  requisite  action  and  incur  the  necessary  expense  for 
organizing  a  candidate  department.  I  do  not  know  whether 
our  Board  is  typical  of  others,  but  the  process  of  evolution 
through  which  we  have  been  passing  in  this  regard  may  be  of 
some  interest. 

1.  The  first  step  taken  by  our  Board  was  to  transfer  the 
candidate  correspondence,  which  had  been  for  many  years  in 
the  Home  Department,  to  the  Foreign  Department,  thus  bring- 
ing the  Foreign  Secretaries  into  touch  at  an  early  stage  with 
all  candidates  for  the  foreign  field  and  putting  upon  the  For- 
eign Secretaries  the  responsibility  for  the  selection  and  train- 
ing of  candidates.  This  correspondence  and  this  respon- 
sibility, however,  had  to  be  carried  by  men  who  already  had 
other  duties  sufficient  to  require  all  their  time.  A  second  step 
has  now  been  taken  in  the  appointment  of  a  Candidate  Secre- 
tary, a  Secretary  in  the  h\)reign  Department  who  will  have  the 
candidate  work  as  his  chief  responsibility. 

2.  The  material  supplied  by  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prep- 
aration has  been  helpful  and  suggestive  to  our  Board  in  work- 
ing out  its  own  definite  policy  with  regard  to  the  quahfications 
and  preparation  required  in  the  men  and  women  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  the  foreign  field.  For  example,  even  before  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  last  two  series  of  reports  our  Candidate  Com- 
mittee began  a  careful  study  and  analysis  of  the  reports  and 
findings  as  to  the  preparation  for  the  various  types  and  field  of 
missionary  service  and  is  formulating  a  brief  but  comprehen- 
sive ''standard  for  missionary  candidates"  which  we  can  put 
into  the  hands  of  students  in  our  colleges  and  seminaries  who 
are  considering  foreign  mission  service,  together  with  informa- 
tion concerning  our  mission  fields  and  suggestions  as  to  cor- 
respondence. 

3.  A  third  result  of  the  consideration  of  the  findings  and 
reports  of  the  fjoard  of  Missionary  Preparation  has  been  to 
center  more  attention  upon  the  importance  of  giving  special 
training  to  missionaries  appointed  to  special  forms  of  work. 
Many  candidates  now  are  given  advance  appointment  and  are 
advised  to  take  special  training  at  one  or  another  institution 
where  what  they  need  can  best  be  secured  and  if  necessary 
financial  help  is  extended  to  enable  such  candidates  to  pursue 
the  desired  subjects.  What  was  formerly  done  in  a  few 
sporadic  cases  has  now  become  the  settled  policy  of  the  Board. 

19 


nonrd   of  I>Ii.s.sioiiiiry  Proi»arn<ioii    IiUoradire 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  these  advance  steps  would  have 
been  taken  under  any  circumstances,  but  I  believe  that  the 
readiness  of  our  Board  to  move  along  the  lines  indicated  has 
been  du€  very  largely  to  the  influence  of  the  v^ork  and  litera- 
ture issued  by  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation.  If  this 
literature  has  produced  such  results  in  the  case  of  one  Mission 
Board  possibly  a  similar  treatment  would  be  profitable  in  the 
case  of  other  Boards,  if  there  be  any  that  need  such  stimulation. 

//.  For  Securing  Better  Prepared  Missiofiary  Candidates. 

A  second,  and  naturally  the  chief,  use  for  the  literature 
issued  by  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  is  directed 
toward  the  securing  of  better  qualified  and  more  thoroughly 
prepared  candidates  for  the  mission  field.  We  may  distinguish 
between  the  use  of  the  literature  by  the  candidate  secretary 
and  its  use  by  the  candidate  himself. 

I.  To  the  candidate  secretary,  especially  if  he  be  burdened 
with  other  responsibilities,  these  leaflets  and  reports  are  in- 
valuable. They  greatly  lighten  the  burden  of  correspondence, 
for  in  a  majority  of  cases  candidate  inquiry  regarding  quali- 
fications may  be  answered  by  a  brief  note  accompanied  by 
one  or  more  of  the  leaflets.  For  example,  in  the  early  stages 
of  correspondence  with  candidates  we  have  made  very  large 
use  of  the  leaflet  dealing  with  "Fundamental  Qualifications  for 
Missionary  Service."  In  many  cases  in  which  the  inquiry 
comes  from  a  casual  or  unintelligent  interest,  this  interest  has 
been  deepened  and  made  permanent  by  putting  into  the  can- 
didate's hand  this  inspiring  and  challenging  statement  of 
missionary  qualifications.  In  some  cases,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  which  it  seems  fairly  clear  that  the  candidate  does  not 
possess  the  requisite  qualifications  for  missionary  work,  this 
leaflet  accompanied  by  a  letter  emphasizing  the  high  standard 
of  preparation  required  under  present  conditions  of  missionary 
work  will  suffice  to  show  the  candidate  his  lack  of  fitness 
and  turn  his  thought  into  other  directions  so  that  the  secre- 
tary may  not  be  under  the  necessity  of  telling  him  plainly  the 
somewhat  unwelcome  truth. 

Questions  concerning  the  kind  of  preparation  needed  for 
evangelistic,  educational  or  medical  work  or  for  work  in  a 
particular  field  as  India,  China  or  Japan  are  answered  so  well 
and  so  fully  in  the  reports  bearing  these  respective  titles  that 
every  candidate  secretary  may  well  make  large  use  of  them 
always  supplementing  the  leaflet  with  a  letter  which  will  main- 
tain the  individual  personal  contact.  By  following  up  this 
correspondence  and  noting  carefully  the  reaction  of  the  candi- 
date both  in  letters  and  conversation  upon  the  material  placed 
in   his   hands   the   candidate   secretary   will    have   exceptional 

80 


Donrd   of   Missionary  Preparation   Literature 

means    of    judging   as    to    the    candidate's    missionary    spirit, 
adaptability,  persistence  and  other  important  quahfications. 

It  is  a  fair  question  as  to  whether  a  charge  should  be  made 
for  these  reports  when  sent  to  the  candidate.  I  believe  that 
when  the  sending  of  a  report  can  be  made  the  basis  of  a  help- 
ful correspondence  the  Board  is  fully  justified  in  furnishing 
the  leaflets  free.  Especially  is  this  true  since  some  of  the 
larger  reports  have  been  broken  up  into  smaller  leaflets  cov- 
ering a  single  topic. 

2.  The  individual  candidate  will  find  these  reports  exceed- 
ingly helpful.  A  careful  reading  will  give  him  a  true  con- 
ception of  the  missionary  task  in  its  subjective  aspect  and  as 
already  suggested  will  clarify  his  judgment  as  to  whether  he 
possesses  the  requisite  qualities  upon  which  to  build  a  super- 
structur-e  of  technical  preparation.  Having  answered  this 
question  in  the  aflirmative  he  will  find  in  the  reports  much 
to  guide  him  in  deciding  for  what  type  of  missionary  service 
to  fit  himself  and  many  practical  suggestions  as  to  how  he 
can  best  equip  himself  for  his  task.  Later  on  in  his  course  the 
candidate  will  find  great  value  in  a  study  of  the  specific 
requirements  for  the  different  fields  as  well  as  the  special 
preparation  advantageous  for  those  expecting  to  deal  with 
any  one  of  the  great  Oriental  religions.  It  is  highly  impor- 
tant that  the  candidate  should  not  be  left  to  make  his  choice 
and  to  work  out  his  preparation  entirely  alone,  but  that  at 
every  stage  the  candidate  secretary  should  be  ready  with 
sympathetic  advice  and  suggestion,  thus  guiding  the  candidate 
into  the  line  of  preparation  which  is  best  suited  to  his  natural 
qualities  and  which  at  the  same  time  will  enable  him  when 
the  preparation  is  completed  to  fit  into  a  definite  sphere  of  use- 
fulness in  the  mission  work  of  his  Board. 

3.  The  reports  may  be  very  helpful,  either  singly  or  as  a 
whole,  as  the  basis  of  a  group  study  by  student  bands  both 
of  volunteers  and  of  non-volunteers.  Here  again  the  candi- 
date secretary  by  keeping  closely  in  touch  with  these  study 
classes  can  be  of  great  assistance  and  at  the  same  time  gain 
much  valuable  information  concerning  possible  future  can- 
didates. 

///.  For  Increasing  the  Effectiveness  of  Missionaries  al- 
ready in  Service. 

A  third  use  for  the  literature  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  or  at  least  a  portion  of  it,  lies  in  the  direction  of 
increasing  the  effectiveness  of  the  missionaries  already  in  ser- 
vice. Considerable  attention  has  been  given  by  the  Board  to 
the  missionary's  furlough  as  furnishing  an  opportunity  for 
further  study,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  missionaries  in  in- 

81 


Itonrcl   of  Itlissioiinry   ]*r(']t:irntioii    liilol'atlirc 

creasing  numbers  are  taking  advantage  of  the  furlough  period 
to  pursue  special  lines  of  study  suggested  by  their  experience 
on  the  field  as  calculated  to  give  them  an  equipment  more 
adequate  to  the  particular  tasks  and  problems  with  which 
they  are  confronted.  The  Mission  Boards  too  are  recognizing 
the  importance  of  such  study  and  are  releasing  the  mission- 
aries from  a  certain  amount  of  deputation  work  and  are  mak- 
ing financial  arrangements  so  that  they  can  give  themselves  to 
this  study  without  embarrassment. 

The  most  recent  series  of  reports  issued  by  the  Board  deals 
with  the  equipment  needed  for  a  sympathetic  understanding  of 
the  great  Oriental  religions,  Confucianism,  Buddhism,  Hindu- 
ism and  Mohammedanism,  and  of  the  animistic  beliefs  held 
by  the  uncivilized  peoples  in  various  parts  of  the  world  and 
suggests  the  best  methods  of  approach  in  dealing  with  the 
adherents  of  these  religions.  These  reports  are  as  valuable, 
perhaps  more  so,  to  the  missionaries  serving  their  first  term 
on  the  field,  as  to  the  candidates  preparing  for  missionary 
work.  Mission  Boards  would  do  well  to  place  at  least  in  the 
hands  of  their  younger  missionaries  in  each  of  the  mission 
fields  copies  of  the  reports  dealing  with  the  religions  with 
which  they  come  in  contact. 

In  conclusion  a  few  facts  and  suggestions  may  be  reported 
as  gathered  from  the  replies  received  to  inquiries  sent  to  a 
number  of  the  Boards.  At  least  two  Boards  have  undertaken 
a  careful  study  of  the  findings  and  reports  for  the  purpose 
of  preparing  a  comprehensive  outline  statement  of  necessary 
missionary  qualifications  as  adapted  to  their  own  constituency 
and  work.  Several  Boards  use  the  leaflets  freely  in  corre- 
spondence with  missionary  candidates.  One  secretary  testi- 
fies that  as  a  result  of  the  use  of  this  literature  "we  have  felt 
that  when  our  missionaries  started  for  the  fields  they  have 
been  prepared  in  a  way  that  has  not  been  possible  before  these 
reports  and  findings  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation 
were  available."  One  Board  reports  that  it  has  sent  to  its 
missionaries  copies  of  reports  dealing  with  the  religions  of 
their  respective  fields.  A  suggestion  is  made  that  some  of 
the  reports  might  be  summarized  and  issued  in  briefer  form 
which  could  be  kept  uj)  to  date.  The  general  attitude  of  the 
candidate  secretaries  and  Hoards  is  undoubtedly  that  ex- 
pressed by  one  who  writes  "we  set  a  high  value  upon  the 
literature  and  the  help  received  from  it." 

DISCUSSION 

Dr.  Frank  K.  Sanders:  Tn  regard  to  Mr.  TTuntington's  reference 
to  the  use  on  the  field  of  our  most  recent  reports  relating  to  religions, 
I  was  greatly  interested  by  the  reception  given  to  those  reports  by  the 


Iloiii'd  of   Missionary  Prepariilion    liiterntiire 

missionaries  in  the  Far  East,  during  my  recent  visit  there,  although  I 
had  to  refer  to  them  very  vaguely  since  none  had  been  printed  when 
I  left.  There  was  the  greatest  eagerness  among  the  missionary  body 
to  get  hold  of  something  of  the  sort,  a  careful  formulation  of  their 
own  experience  on  the  question  of  the  proper  approach  with  the  Chris- 
tian message  to  their  various  peoples.  They  were  interested  by  the 
fact  that  these  reports  were  in  no  sense  imposed  upon  the  missionary 
world,  nor  evolved  out  of  the  consciousness  of  a  group  of  professors, 
but  were  rather  produced  out  of  world-wide  missionary  experience. 
They  were  interested  also  by  the  fact  that  it  took  us  two  years  and 
a  half  to  get  ready  to  publish  the  first  one  of  those  reports,  which  had 
gone  through  three  stages  of  preparation  before  being  published  at 
allr  in  order  not  merely  that  the  facts  should  be  formulated,  but  that 
they  should  be  reviewed  by  competent  critics.  Everywhere  mission- 
aries were  interested  in  seeing  the  final  results  of  such  a  process. 

One  of  the  last  things  that  I  did  before  starting  was  lo  formulate 
a  letter  which  went  to  every  Board  in  North  America,  announcing 
that  the  reports  were  ready,  sending  a  sample  copy,  and  asking  them 
if  they  would  not  forward  a  copy  to  each  of  the  missionaries  of  their 
Board   in   the  countries  to  which  the   special   report   related. 

I  regret  to  say  that  only  a  few  of  the  Boards  were  ready  to  respond 
with  any  promptness,  probably  because  the  matter  was  overlooked 
in  the  slackness  of  summer.  I  have  since  heard  that  Board  after 
Board  has  complied  with  our  request.  These  reports  will  be  of  un- 
usual value  to  the  young  missionary.  Why?  It  is  because  they 
represent  the  ripened  experience  of  the  missionary  world,  as  far  as 
that  is  ascertainable.  They  enable  the  young  missionary  to  start,  as 
far  as  any  one  can  start  by  reading  something,  with  the  digested 
experience  of  those  who  have  gone  before  him.  1  would  not  say 
that  they  are  particularly  advantageous  for  the  missionary  candidate. 
They  belong  to  a  later  stage  in  his  career.  In  my  own  mind  the  use 
of  these  reports  adjusts  itself  somewhat  in  this  fashion:  The  report 
on  the  "Fundamental  Qualifications  of  the  Missionary"  may  be  regarded 
as  number  one.  Any  person  who  begins  to  think  of  going  to  the 
missionary  field  may  profita1:)ly  read  that  pamphlet.  Next  comes  the 
series  on  the  preparation  for  types  of  missionary  service,  evangelistic, 
medical,  or  educational.  Those  reports  relate  themselves  to  the  first 
active  problem  of  a  candidate's  career.  He  desires  to  know  what 
he  is  fitted  to  do.  Our  next  series  of  pamphlets  help  a  candidate  when 
he  begins  to  question  where  he  is  going  to  go.  They  set  before  him 
the  various  fields  and  enable  him  to  understand  the  general  difference 
between  them,  so  that  he  will  go  on,  if  he  chooses,  to  study  with 
some  degree  of  persistency  and  thoroughness  the  particular  field  which 
interests  him,  and  thus  may  be  enabled  to  determine  where  he  thinks 
he  belongs.  The  reports  regarding  religion  belong  distinctly  to  the 
junior  missionary  stage  of  development,  to  the  young  missionary  who 
has  just  gone  out  to  the  field.  Before  going  out  the  average  candi- 
date is  hardly  prepared  to  struggle  with  the  problems  presented  by 
those   reports. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  you  to  know  that  because  of  the  insistence 
of  missionaries  themselves,  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  has 
initiated  a  series  of  reports,  now  in  the  process  of  preparation,  on  the 
life  of  the  missionary,  his  spiritual  life,  his  physical  development,  his 
mental  growth,  and  so  on.  These  reports  when  completed  will  belong 
just  as_  much  to  the  mature  missionary  as  to  the  one  who  is  beginning 
a  missionary  career. 

We  have  been  gradually  drawn,  therefore,  into  the  study  of  the 
whole  growing  life  of  the   missionary.     It  is   a  profound  gratification 

83 


Board  of  iMioisioiiiiry   I'rei»jiraliou   LiU-raturc 

to  the  Board  that  the  Secretaries  who  created  the  Board  believe  in 
the  resuhs  that  they  are  getting  out  of  it.  1  am  sure  our  only  desire 
is  to  serve  them  better  and  better  as  the  years  go  on. 

Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner:  I  would  like  to  testify  to  the  value  of 
this  series,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  student  volunteer  and  the 
student  volunteer  bands,  supplementing  what  Mr.  Huntington  said  on 
this  point.  We  have  correspondence  here  from  very  large  numbers 
of  student  volunteers.  They  are  in  various  stages  of  preparation 
from  the  lower  classes  of  college  to  the  senior  classes  in  pro- 
fessional schools.  What  Mr.  Huntington  says  about  the  value  of 
these  reports  in  aiding  in  this  correspondence  is  true  in  our  office. 
When  a  student  writes  that  he  is  uncertain  as  to  the  courses  he  ought 
to  elect,  we  refer  him  to  these  pamphlets,  suggesting  that  he  take  the 
pamphlet  to  his  professor  and  work  out  his  courses.  The  results  have 
been  very  satisfactory. 

These  pamphlets  also  are  valuable  in  other  ways:  (i)  they  help 
to  dignify  the  career  of  a  missionary;  (2)  they  help  many  students 
in  their  attempt  to  reach  a  decision  as  to  the  missionary  work  as  a 
life  work.  When  a  student  studies  one  of  these  pamphlets  he  gets  a 
new  conception  of  what  a  missionary  is  expected  to  do  and  the  neces- 
sity of  thorough  preparation  therefor.  A  student  may  be  trying  to 
settle  his  life  work.  If  you  show  him  the  pamphlets  relating  to  prepa- 
ration for  educational  work,  for  medical  work,  or  for  the  work  of 
the  ordained  missionary,  the  work  of  a  missionary  becomes  concrete. 
One  of  the  difficulties  which  young  people  face  when  they  try  to  de- 
cide upon  these  questions  is  the  hazy  conception  of  the  work  of  a 
missionary.  These  pamphlets  have  helped  to  bring  it  down  out  of 
the  indefinite  and  put  it  before  them  where  they  can  comprehend  it. 
They  will  then  say,  "I  can  do  that  sort  of  thing,  I  can  get  that  kind 
of  preparation  and  be  a  missionary,  if  that  is  what  it  is."  The  series 
on  religions  is  of  great  value  to  undergraduates.  We  have  encouraged 
the  use  of  these  studies  as  the  text-book  for  Mission  Study  Classes 
as  well  as  for  individual  study,  with  good  results. 

Rev.  Thomas  S.  Donohugh:  I  speak  from  the  standpoint  of 
one  who  has  tried  for  about  five  years  to  use  these  reports.  We 
have  been  buying  and  distributing  them  from  the  beginning,  but,  of 
course,  we  must  realize  that  in  all  this  recent  period  during  war  times 
there  has  been  increasing  pressure  on  the  boards  and  on  our  young 
men,  making  it  hard  to  get  candidates  of  any  kind  who  were  satis- 
factory, and  making  it  useless,  particularly  during  this  last  year,  to 
hand  out  to  candidates  reports  which  advised  several  years'  prepa- 
ration. I  think  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  war  has  interfered  very 
largely  with  the  continued  use  of  reports  advising  an  extensive 
preparation.  There  will  be  a  time  when  we  can  renew  their  use  and 
on  a  very  much  more  extensive  scale.  I  appreciate  the  suggestion 
made  with  reference  to  sending  out  the  recent  issues  of  the  reports 
to  our  new  missionaries  who  are  out  on  the  field. 

Chairman  Corey:  I  wonder  if  we,  as  Board  Secretaries,  are  using 
this  literature  as  much  as  we  might  be  using  it.  I  rather  think  we  are 
not.  How  many  of  us  here  have  gone  over  this  literature?  If  you 
have  not  studied  it  very  carefully,  you  will  be  very  much  surprised 
at  the  extent  and  scope  of  the  reports  which  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  has  put  at  the  disposal  of  our  Secretaries  and  our  Candi- 
dates. This  Conference  on  Candidates  grew  out  of  a  suggestion  that 
was  made  by  Dr.  Mackenzie,  the  Chairman  of  this  Board,  at  the 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  last  year,  in  which  he  placed  very 
squarely  before  the  Board  Secretaries  the  question  as  to  the  proper 
organization   and    development   of   our    Candidate    departments.     ]\Iay 


Speoini   Triiiiiiuj;    SfIiooIs   for   C:iudi(la<e<4 

I   read   a  paragraph   from  his   address,   which   I  think   is   quite  to   the 
point: 

I  feel  as  if  we  ought  now  to  take  another  great  step,  and  that  will  be  taken 
if  the  boards  will  say  to  themselves:  here  is  all  this  literature;  here  is  all  this 
minute  and  exhaustive  study  of  the  problems.  Now,  what  are  we  going  to  do 
about  it?  We  certainly  cannot  go  on  selecting  and  dealing  with  our  candidates 
and  sending  them  out  as  we  have  been  doing  to  this  hour.  I  could  give  you 
illustrations  of  what  seem  to  me  to  be  exceedingly  dangerous  ways  of  handling 
the  young  people  who  are  going  out  next  year  into  missionary  fields,  actual  illus- 
trations that  have  come  under  my  own  observation  and  that  I  have  had  to  handle. 
I  feel  as  if  the  great  boards  that  are  represented  here  are  now  in  the  presence 
of  an  actual  task  for  which  they  have  a  supreme  responsibility,  and  that  is  of 
reconsidering  and  revising  the  whole  system  of  selecting  and  training  and  appoint- 
ing  their   young    missionaries. 


THE    PLACE    OF    SPECIAL    TRAINING 

SCHOOLS    IN    THE    TRAINING 

OF   CANDIDATES 

By  Mrs.  Anna  R.  Atwater,  Indianapolis,  Indiana 

In   the  absence   of  Mrs.   Atwater   this   paper   was   read  by   Rev.    S.    G.   Inman. 

The  schools  here  under  discussion  exclude  all  regular  col- 
leges, universities  and  theological  seminaries,  even  those  which 
maintain  missionary  departments,  or  whose  curriculum  em- 
braces some  courses  for  prospective  foreign  missionaries. 
Even  with  this  exclusion  the  term  "Special  Training  Schools" 
is  rather  comprehensive.  It  covers  a  wide  range  of  institu- 
tions devoted  to  preparation  for  many  forms  of  mission  work 
at  home  and  abroad,  in  fact  for  nearly  all  sorts  of  Christian 
service  except  the  regular  ministry.  There  are  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  thirty-six  of  these  institutions,  offering 
considerable  variety  in  entrance  requirements,  scope  and 
strength  of  instruction,  equipment,  ancl  in  their  provision  for 
the  needs  of  foreign  candidates.^  For  convenience  in  discus- 
sion it  might  be  well  for  us  to  keep  in  mind  the  classification 
indicated  in  the  reports  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prepara- 
tion, whose  investigations  show  that  these  special  schools  fall 
into  three  categories : 

(i)  Those  mainly  directed  to  preparation  for  home  service, 
and  in  which  training  for  the  foreign  field  is  incidental  or  sub- 
sidiary. 

(2)  Those  with  larger  emphasis  on  the  foreign  department, 
which  are  equipped  to  furnish,  in  addition  to  other  lines  of 
training,  a  fairly  good  general  preparation  for  foreign  mission 
work. 

(3)  Those  which,  more  distinctively  still,  are  professional 
schools    for    foreign    missionary    education,    conducted    on    a 

^  See  list  in  Fifth  Report  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  1915.  Ap- 
pendix   A,    pp.    219-236. 

85 


.Special   TraiiiiiiK;   Scliools   for   Cnntlidatos 

graduate  basis,  and  offerin'^^  facilities  U)r  si)ecia1ization  with 
regard  to  the  dififerent  fields. 

The  wide  diiTferences  in  em[)hasis  and  in  curriculum  which 
characterize  these  three  classes  of  institutions  make  it  difficult 
to  sum  up  in  generalizations  the  actual  or  ])0ssible  contribution 
of  existing  special  training  schools  as  a  whole  to  the  process 
of  preparing  foreign  candidates.  But  in  interpreting  the  evi- 
dent assumption  of  the  topic,  viz.,  that  these  schools  have  or 
may  have  some  place  in  the  process,  it  is  necessary  to  determine 
what  that  place  is.  In  trying  to  do  so  I  find  myself  com- 
pelled to  think  almost  exclusively  of  the  institutions  of  the 
third  class  as  described  above,  i.  e.,  to  those  which  devote 
themselves  primarily  to  the  needs  of  the  foreign  candidate,  and 
which,  presumably,  are  equipped  to  carry  forward  his  prepara- 
tion into  the  more  advanced  stages. 

The  place  of  the  special  training  school  should  he  post- 
graduate in  scope.  Has  not  the  time  come  for  the  Boards  to 
say  frankly  and  to  recjuire  that  any  work  taken  by  a  pros- 
pective foreign  missionary  in  a  special  training  school  must 
be  supplementary  to  a  good,  broad  undergraduate  course, 
at  college  or  university,  or  its  full  equivalent ;  or,  in  the  case 
of  nurses,  doctors,  industrial  missionaries,  etc.,  supplementary 
to  graduation  from  a  first  class  professional  school?  Such 
attitude  and  demand  on  the  ])art  of  the  Boards  would  stimu- 
late the  special  schools  to  standardize  and  coordinate  their 
work  in  such  a  way  as  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  hour.  It 
would  impose  upon  them  the  obligation  to  regard  and  to  con- 
duct themselves  essentially  as  graduate  schools,  with  specialist 
instruction ;  and,  while  the  number  of  special  schools  at- 
tempting foreign  missionary  training  might  be  reduced,  the 
quality  of  the  work  would  be  enhanced. 

The  findings  of  Edinburgh,  and  of  every  subsequent  con- 
ference on  candidates,  as  well  as  the  Reports  of  the  Board 
of  Missionary  Preparation  are  certainly  discouraging  to  any 
attempt  at  survival  of  "the  short  cut  to  the  foreign  mission 
field!"  An  unfailing  note  in  every  call  for  reenforcements 
is  that  the  workers  shall  be  men  and  women  of  the  broadest 
general  culture  and  specially  equipped  to  meet  the  complex 
and  exacting  conditions  of  the  present  strategic  generation 
in  the  plastic  but  rapidly  changing  non-Christian  lands.  More 
than  ever  now  in  the  new  era  following  the  war  we  may  be 
sure  that  missionary  successes  cannot  be  built  on  sui)erficial 
foundations. 

The  place  of  the  well-developed  graduate  training  school 
may  be  further  defii^ed  by  a  statement  of  its  advantages. 
What  has  experience  shown  some  of  these  to  be?  There  is 
space  merely  to  list  them. 

86 


.SpeoinI   Tr:iiuiiig'    SoIum>].s    for   Candidates 

(i)  The  distinct  missionary  emphasis  and  the  immediate 
reference  to  the  problems  of  non-Christian  countries,  which 
can  be  placed  on  every  course  given  in  the  institution.  Such 
subjects  as  sociology,  international  relations,  phonetics  and 
even  the  Bible,  require  for  the  foreign  candidate  a  different 
presentation  and  application  from  that  which  obtains  in  the 
average  university  or  seminary  course. 

(2)  The  spiritual  atmosphere  in  which  all  of  the  training 
proceeds.  Conditions  conduce  to  the  more  intensive  culti- 
vation of  this  in  the  special  school  than  elsewhere.  Particu- 
larly is  this  possible  in  a  residential  institution.  Is  anything 
more  important  than  the  enrichment  of  the  candidate's  per- 
sonal Christian  experience,  his  culture  in  the  deep  things  of 
God?  The  education  of  the  heart,  the  burnishing  of  the  true 
"missionary  spirit,"  is  the  one  adequate  proof  against  the 
tendency  to  professionalism  or  mere  intellectualism. 

(3)  The  practical  tasks,  usually  participation  in  some  sort 
of  actual  mission  work,  to  which  students  are  assigned.  This 
prevents  the  training  from  becoming  too  theoretical. 

(4)  The  opportunity  of  dealing  correctively  and  construct- 
ively with  matters  of  personal  habit,  custom,  attitude  and 
deportment,  which  have  such  important  bearings  on  all  of  the 
candidate's  future  relations  in  a  foreign  country. 

(5)  The  advantage  of  a  p'ace  of  testing.  In  the  residential 
special  school  there  is  virtually  a  missionary  community  which 
soon  reveals  the  ability  of  each  of  its  members  to  adjust  him- 
self to  other  personalities  and  to  do  harmonious  team  work. 
Many  are  sifted  out  because  "queer,"  "non-cooperative"  or 
unable  to  work  with  others. 

(6)  The  close  friendships  established,  the  mutual  and  last- 
ing acquaintance  of  men  and  women  who  are  going  out  to  be 
Christian  leaders  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  constitute 
another  possibility  richly  realized  in  the  special  school. 

(7)  Again,  there  is  the  advantage  on  the  part  of  the  Board 
of  the  opportunity  of  establishing  an  intimate  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  the  missionaries  who  will  work  under  its 
appointment,  and,  on  the  part  of  the  candidates,  of  similar 
acquaintance  with  the  members  of  the  Board.  Experience 
shows  this  to  be  of  the  very  highest  value. 

(8)  Finally,  the  special  school  with  its  concentrated  and 
specialized  activities,  tends  to  become  a  center  of  missionary 
enlistment.  It  can  assist  the  Boards  in  effectively  bringing 
before  the  Churches  the  great  needs  and  opportunities  of 
foreign  missionary  service. 

Attendance  at  a  special  graduate  school  is  particularly  ad- 
vantageous to  the  following: 

( I )    Women  candidates  in  general,  who  are  not  encouraged 

87 


Siiceial  Traiuiiig   Seho4»Is   for  Cundidntcs 

to  attend  theological  schools.  (2)  Nurses,  doctors,  teachers, 
men  and  women,  who  are  too  often  sent  out  without  any  dis- 
tinctively missionary  training.  A  period  in  a  special  school, 
after  the  completion  of  their  professional  training,  would  be 
of  great  benefit. 

Much  has  been  urged  against  the  advisability  of  perpetuat- 
ing any  separate  institutions  for  foreign  missionary  training, 
on  the  general  ground  that  adequate  and  superior  advantages 
are  already  available,  and  will  be  increasingly  so,  at  universities 
and  seminaries.  Among  the  more  specific  criticisms  and  ob- 
jections are  the  following: 

(i)  The  segregation  of  candidates  in  a  foreign  missionary 
institution  tends  to  produce  a  single  type,  or  particular  brand 
of  missionary,  with  some  loss  of  individuality  and  breadth 
of  outlook.  It  is  urged  that  the  future  foreign  missionary 
should  have  wider  opportunity  to  mix  with  students  of  varied 
interests  and  purposes,  and  should  take  even  his  special  train- 
ing in  association  with  people  who  are  preparing  for  the 
widest  diversity  of  Christian  service,  or  life  calling. 

(2)  Special  schools  are  objected  to  on  account  of  their  cost. 
Why  not  eliminate  this  or  greatly  reduce  it  by  developing 
facilities  at  the  larger  established  institutions? 

(3)  It  is  held  that  a  candidate  can  save  time  by  taking  all 
of  his  missionary  training  in  connection  with  graduate  work 
at  a  university,  and  specialization  in  a  theological  seminary  or 
professional  school.  Furthermore  he  can  get  considerable 
advanced  training  in  countries  like  India,  China  and  Japan  in 
the  language  schools  now  being  developed  in  those  lands.  Why 
then  waste  a  year  or  more  in  an  isolated  institution? 

All  of  which  suggests  that  the  ideal  training  school  for 
foreign  service  should  be  located  in  juxtaposition  to  seminary 
and  university. 

DISCUSSION 

Rev.  S.  G.  Inman:  I  am  sure  that  Mrs.  Atwater  in  preparing 
this  paper  had  in  mind  a  special  institution  and  is  speaking  not  from 
theory,  hut  from  practice.  The  Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions, 
of  which  Mrs.  Atwater  is  President,  has  been  developing  for  several 
years  a  College  of  Missions  at  Indianapolis  along  the  lines  outlined  by 
the  Commission  on  Missionary  Preparation  of  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference. That  College  of  Missions  has  done  graduate  work  and  its 
high  standards  have  been  continually  maintained.  The  results  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  Board  and  from  the  standpoint  of  the  mission- 
aries on  the  field  have  been  magnificent.  Any  one  who  has  been  a 
missionary  before  such  an  institution  was  opened,  and  then  afterwards 
has  gone  out  into  the  field  visiting  others  and  seeing  what  advantages 
come  to  the  missionaries  who  have  had  that  training,  must  be  con- 
vinced of  the  advisability  of  such  an  institution.  Particularly  advan- 
tageous it  seems  to  me  is  the  fact  of  the. close  cooperation  between 

88 


S|M><-i]iI    'l'r:iiiiiiiK'    Neliool.H    for    C:iii<1iclates 

the  candidate  and  the  Board  before  they  go  to  the  field,  so  that  they 
know  one  another  and  understand  any  possible  "kinks""  in  char- 
acter. 1'hose  relations  lieing  worked  out  more  or  less  before  the 
candidate  goes  to  the  field  is  a  tremendous  advantage.  Many  illus- 
trations of  this  could  be  given  from  the  experience  of  the  College  of 
Missions  at   Indianapolis. 

Chairman  Corey:  We  had  up  yesterdcfy  for  discussion  those  many 
problems  of  the  selection  of  candidates  and  sending  out  of  candidates 
before  they  were  really  tested  as  to  compatibility.  The  special  train- 
ing school,  especially  when  it  is  in  close  connection  with  the  mission- 
ary boards,  gives  you  an  opportunity  for  testing  the  candidate.  Do 
you   think   that   is   worth   while? 

Prof.  Guy  W.  Sarvis:  1  would  like  to  ask  is  it  fair  to  the  candi- 
date to  wait  until  he  gets  into  a  special  institution  to  do  this  testing? 
It  seems  to  me  it  is  far  better — and  I  would  say  necessary — to 
test  his  fitness  for  foreign  mission  work  before  he  gets  to  the  stage 
of   special  training. 

Miss  Helen  K.  Hunt:  The  Baptist  Board  has  something  of  this 
sort,  not  as  elaborate  as  the  Christian  Woman's  Board,  ours  is  more 
on  the  line  of  a  dormitory  near  Boston.  The  girls  take  special  train- 
ing, each  one  according  to  what  we  think  she  needs  for  the  work  she 
is  to  do  ;  but  we  have  the  home  life  there  and  we  feel  that  it  is  of 
almost  inestimable  value  to  the  Board  and  also  to  the  girls.  By  this 
personal  touch,  we  come  into  close  contact  with  them,  and  learn  to 
know  the  girls.  When  the  time  comes  that  certain  girls  seem  to  be 
the  ones  whom  we  shall  want,  then  we  do  feel  there  is  a  good  deal 
that  can  be  given  them  in  the  way  of  special  instruction  for  our 
work  that  really  can't  be  given  anyv/here  else, — special  information 
about  our  own  fields  and  in  our  own  type  and  methods  of  work. 
It  also  is  true  that,  in  spite  of  our  very  best  efiforts,  almost  every 
year  brings  us  at  least  one  whom  we  decide,  after  having  her  under 
observation,  is  not  the  woman  we  want.  We  feel  a  good  deal  of 
disappointment  is  saved  by  eliminating  such  a  candidate  before  she 
is  accepted  and   sent  to  the  field. 

Dr.  James  I.  Good:  I  have  never  been  clear  in  my  mind  about 
the  training  schools  in  this  country.  I  can  see  their  use  for  those  who 
have  no  other  opportunity  for  their  preparation,  but  I  am  not  clear 
about  schools  of  this  kind  for  those  who  are  college  or  university 
graduates.  One  argument  against  them  that  Mrs.  Atwater  refers 
to  has  always  greatly  impressed  me,  that  these  people  ought  to  go 
to  the  country  to  which  they  are  appointed  for  language  study  where 
they  can  make  more  rapid  progress  when  they  are  surrounded  by 
the  language.  I  want  to  throw  out  this  suggestion,  that  it  is  better 
to  utilize  these  training  schools  for  the  present,  but  as  we  look  to 
the  future  there  should  be  an  attempt  made  in  the  foreign  field  (just 
as  we  are  making  the  attempt  now  for  union  efforts  for  the  schools 
for  the  training  of  the  children),  in  China  or  India  or  Japan,  to 
organize  schools  to  which  our  missionaries  can  go  and  get  special 
training  in  the  surroundings  of  the  country  where  they  are  to  work. 

Dr.  James  Endicott:  I  would  like  to  hear  testimony  showing  more 
specifically  the  success  of  the  training  done  in  these  institutions. 
The  mere  matter  of  the  school  being  a  place  for  the  weeding  out  of 
candidates  does  not  appeal  to  me  very  much.  These  institutions  must 
be  judged  by  the  character  of  the  actual  training  that  takes  place 
in  them.  It  must  be  that  the  average  university  and  theological  school 
is  not  equipped  to  give  the  intellectual  training  necessary  for  those 
who  are  to  take  a  place  of  leadership  in  the  foreign  fields.  That  can 
be  the  only  reason  for  founding  fresh  institutions.  May  we  have 
to-day    testimony    concerning    the    superior    advantages    to    candidates 


Special   Trsiiiiiiim;   S«'liools   for  Caii«li«I:ilo.s 

who  have  already  a  broad  culture,  of  going  and  spending  a  year  in 
such  institutions.     Such  testimony  would  be  of  value  to  me. 

Rev.  E.  C-  Lobenstine:  This  is  a  question  on  which  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  'iraining  uf  Missionaries  in  China  has  been  giving  a 
great  deal  of  thought  during  the  past  two  years.  We  have,  as  you 
know,  two  training  schools  for  missionaries,  one  in  Peking  and  one 
in  Nanking.  A  year  ago  each  of  these  institutions  had  seventy-live 
young  missionaries  learning  the  language  and  preparing  in  other 
ways  also  for  their  life  work  in  China.  In  addition  there  is  a  school 
at  Chengtu,  another  smaller  school  at  Foochow,  and  one  in  Canton. 
It  is  the  conviction  of,  I  think,  the  great  majority  of  the  mission- 
aries in  China  that  after  a  student  has  received  a  good  intellectual 
preparation  for  the  field  and  has  a  grasp  of  what  the  Christian  mis- 
sionary enterprise  is  undertaking  to  do,  he  should  get  out  to  the 
foreign  field  without  undue  delay,  as  each  year's  delay  is  apt  to  prove 
a  handicap  in  acquiring  a  good  working  knowledge  of  the  language. 
Our  Training  Schools  in  Peking  and  Nanking  are  at  this  time  trying 
to  add  to  their  faculties  two  professorships,  one  a  chair  of  Chinese  re- 
ligions, and  the  other  a  chair  of  Chinese  History  and  Sociology.  Lec- 
tures are  already  being  given  to  the  students  in  each  of  these  schools, 
but  it  is  proposed  to  develop  this  work  further  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  to  continue  to  assist  the  young  missionary  after  he  leaves  the 
Training  School  and  proceeds  to  his  station.  The  addition  oi  these 
two  professorships  will  make  it  possible  to  ofifer  courses  regularly 
not  only  at  these  schools,  but  also  at  the  different  summer  resorts 
where  large  numbers  of  missionaries  gather  each  year.  Under  the 
guidance  of  their  own  mission  committees,  which  are  working  in  close 
cooperation  with  the  directors  of  these  training  schools,  young  mis- 
sionaries to  China  are  to-day  being  offered  facilities  undreamed  of 
a  few  years  ago.  After  the  faculties  of  these  schools  have  been 
strengthened  it  will  be  possible  to  extend  greatly  their  usefulness, 
and  many  missionaries  from  all  parts  of  the  country  will  seek  their 
help  in  connection  with  their  private  studies. 

Rev.  Thomas  S.  Donohugh:  What  we  want  is  training  which 
will  really  prepare  the  candidates  for  the  field.  Where  schools  are 
organized  on  the  foreign  field  as  they  are  in  China,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  duplicate  that  training  here.  Where  there 
are  no  training  schools  on  the  field,  as  in  Africa  and  some  other 
parts,  I  think  we  should,  by  all  means,  send  our  students  to  those 
schools  which  will  best  prepare  them  for  the  work.  The  difficulty 
we  find  is  that  almost  every  seminary  or  other  institution  is  putting 
in  a  course  or  two  of  lectures  and  is  calling  it  training  for  mis- 
sionaries. For  women  who  have  not  had  the  benefit  of  theological 
training,  the  special  schools  in  this  country  are  probably  essential,  but 
I  am  very  doubtful  whether  we  ought  to  send  candidates  to  these  train- 
ing schools  if  they  have  had  their  full  college  and  theological  courses, 
and  are  then  to  go  to  a  field  where  another  course  of  study  would  be 
required  in  a  Language  School  located  there.  It  means  too  much 
study  before  they  get  down  to  work.  Our  problem  is  to  avoid  un- 
necessary duplication,  to  secure  an  amount  of  concentration  in  one 
institution  which  will  give  a  really  adequate  course  either  here  or 
on  the  field,  and  I  don't  care  wdiether  it  is  here  or  there,  just  so  the 
candidates  get  the  training   needed. 

Prof.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer:  On  a  recent  visit  to  a  training  school 
I  went  to  several  recitations,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  they  are  giving 
things  that  are  not  ordinarily  had  in  a  university.  I  happen  to  be 
connected  with  Columbia  University,  and  I  am  constantly  reminded 
of  the  analogy  of  a  gentleman  who  goes  to  buy  a  razor,  and  is  handed 
out  over  the  counter  an  umbrella  and  a  pair  of  suspenders ;  he  says, 

go 


Spet'iiil   Training    .Sclutol.s    for   Cnndidates 

"I  don't  care  for  those  things,  I  want  only  a  razor."  They  say,  "We 
do  not  sell  these  separately."  A  few  years  ago  speaking  with  Dean 
Marshall  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  I  said,  "My  son,  I  am  per- 
fectly certain,  does  not  want  to  be  an  ^engineer,  but  I  think  he  does 
want  mathematics  that  he  can  use  in  connection  with  social  subjects. 
Now  isn't  there  some  way  in  which  he  can  get  a  course  in  mathe- 
matics that  does  give  him  the  mathematics  of  statistics,  and  doesn't 
give  him  a  lot  of  mathematics  for  engineering  for  which  he  will 
never  have  any  use  whatever?"  And  the  Dean  said,  "Not  only  is  no 
such  course  given,  but  any  mathematics  teacher  would  lose  his  reputa- 
tion  if  he  pretended  to  give  it." 

I  know  that  missionaries  want  courses  on  the  teaching  of  English 
to  non-English-speaking  people,  but  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  a  course 
on  teaching  English  to  adults  that  isn't  full  of  subways  and  sky- 
scrapers and  elevators  and  a  lot  of  things  that  are  not  needed  on  the 
foreign  field.  Up  at  Hartford  they  were  giving  a  good  course  well 
adapted  to  missionary  use.  A  course  of  sociology  was  given  by  Dr. 
Capen,  whose  experience  on  the  foreign  field  enabled  him  to  do  it 
very  well.  They  were  working  on  phonetics  needed  by  missionaries. 
In  a  university  it  is  very  hard  to  find  a  course  of  phonetics  that  isn't 
based  on  Indo-Gcrmanic  languages.  That  is  the  particular  advantage 
of  a  training  scliool,  it  cuts  out  dead  wood  as  nearly  as  possible, 
and  gets  down  to  things  that  are  necessary.  It  is  difficult,  of  course, 
to  get  the  really  strong  scholar  to  give  those  courses.  My  opinion  is 
that  it  is  rather  unfortunate  for  a  candidate  to  go  to  one  of  the  train- 
ing schools  with  a  small  faculty  which,  in  order  to  keep  its  head 
above  water,  has  to  be  as  optimistic  as  possible  and  think  that  "our 
Mr.  Smith"  is  ideal,  when  every  one  else  knows  he  isn't.  I  am  con- 
vinced that  as  yet  the  courses  in  even  our  large  universities  usually 
contain   a   great   deal   of   material   unnecessary   for  candidates. 

Dr.  Frank  K.  Sanders:  I  was  thinking  again  of  what  Mr.  Dono- 
hugh  said  about  tlie  reports  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation. 
I  thought  I  would  like  to  say  one  word  which  would  fit  into  those  re- 
marks. I  think  what  he  said  was  absolutely  true  about  the  ideal 
character  of  the  reports  that  we  have  prepared  to  be  used  by  mis- 
sionary candidates.  It  ought,  however,  to  be  kept  in  mind  that  any 
formulation  of  wide  missionary  experience  has  to  deal,  to  a  certain 
extent,  from  the  standpoint  of  a  certain  particular  candidate.  Noth- 
ing else  could  possibly  be  true.  And  I  would  like  to  make  this  addi- 
tional remark  that  right  at  that  point  comes  in  a  wise  candidate  secre- 
tary— that  is_  what  he  is  for — it  is  his  privilege  and  responsibility  to 
make  the  adjustment. 


91 


THE  EFFECT  OF  tHE  WAR  ON  SECURING 
MISSIONARY  CANDIDATES  IN  CANADA 

By  Dr.  Frederick  C.  Stephenson^  Toronto 

In  Canada  the  immediate  effect  of  the  war  upon  securing 
candidates  for  the  foreign  field  was  to  cut  off  the  supply,  or 
to  state  it  in  another  way,  to  divert  the  stream  to  the  battle- 
fields of  Europe.  Candidates  under  appointment,  as  well  as 
undergraduate  Student  Volunteers  enlisted  together  with  the 
whole  student  body  of  all  our  colleges  and  universities,  in- 
cluding theological  colleges  and  seminaries.  Vei"y  few  men 
who  were  physically  fit  were  left  in  any  of  our  schools.  The 
call  of  the  Empire  for  men  to  save  civilization  and  Christianity 
from  the  domination  of  the  Hun  appealed  strongly  to  the  type 
of  young  man  who  volunteers  for  foreign  missionary  work. 

When  I  was  invited  to  make  this  statement  on  the  subject 
assigned,  I  at  once  communicated  with  our  educational  insti- 
tutions and  our  Mission  Boards  asking  for  latest  information. 
I  have  not  had  time  to  hear  from  all,  but  to  hear  from  one  is 
to  hear  from  all.  I  submit  this  statement,  not  as  being  com- 
plete so  far  as  the  data  are  concerned,  but  as  fairly  represent- 
ing the  situation  in  Canada. 

Of  the  students  in  Toronto  University,  5,308  enlisted  ;  there 
are  only  1,643  ^^^^  i"  attendance  this  year.  From  McGill 
University,  Montreal,  out  of  1,900  male  students  who  attended 
it  at  some  time  or  other  during  the  four  years  of  the  war,  760 
enlisted.  Of  the  1,900  who  attended,  20  per  cent  were  not 
British  citizens.  The  attendance  at  McCill  in  1913-14,  before 
the  war,  was  2,060.  This  year  there  are  less  than  1,000,  of 
whom  nearly  200  are  women. 

The  Theological  Colleges  also  contributed  loyally  to  the 
army.  In  A^ictoria  College,  Toronto,  when  the  war  began, 
there  were  225  students  registered  in  Theology ;  whereas,  this 
year,  there  are  only  75  students,  and  of  these  35  are  taking 
their  work  extra-murally  on  account  of  the  need  of  preachers. 

These  are  but  examples.  I  have  not  had  time  to  gather 
statistics  from  all  the  universities  and  colleges  in  Canada. 

Not  only  have  our  men  from  the  colleges  and  universities 
enhsted,  but  out  of  a  Methodist  ministry  in  the  active  work  of 
a  little  over  2,000,  450  have  enlisted ;  so  that  there  are  scarcely 
any  candidates  available  in  college  or  among  our  ministers. 

Practically   all   our   young   doctors   and    dentists   and   edu- 

92 


Efft'C't   of   War  on   Sccnriiig:   Minsioiinry  Candidates  in  Canada 

cationalists  have  enlisted.  Our  Sunday  schools  and  young 
people's  societies  have  been  depleted  of  young  men.  Bible 
classes  have  enlisted  en  masse.  The  effect  upon  all  young  men 
nearing  military  age  is  unsettling.  It  is  hard  for  them  to  study 
in  High  School  or  College,  and  difficult  for  them  to  prepare 
themselves  for  the  mission  field.  Thought  has  been  concen- 
trated upon  preparation  for  war.  The  war  has  dominated 
conversation  in  the  home ;  family  prayers  have  been  for  the 
soldiers ;  the  sermons  in  the  church  and  prayer-meetings  have 
been  saturated  with  war ;  many  of  the  young  peoples  societies 
have  become  practically  patriotic  societies ;  so  that  the  mind 
and  thought  of  all  who  are  near  the  military  age  have  been 
fully  occupied  with  the  war. 

What  we  have  said  above  applies  to  the  young  women. 
Many  of  our  young  women  went  to  the  front  as  nurses.  Those 
who  stayed  at  home  took  the  places  of  their  brothers, — on 
the  farm,  in  the  shop  and  in  the  factory.  Many  yovmg  women 
of  independent  means  have  devoted  themselves  energetically 
to  the  manufacture  of  munitions  and  to  the  production  of  food. 

Word  from  the  office  of  the  Church  of  England  was  brief, 
namely :  "Our  men  all  disappeared.  We  have  not  sent  out 
any  since  the  war  began.  We  are  about  to  appoint  one  who 
is  now  freed  for  service  in  the  foreign  field."  Dr.  Mackay 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  says  that  very  few  have  been 
sent  out  since  the  war  began.  The  Methodist  Church  is  in  a 
similar  position.  All  our  Mission  Boards  have  known  that  men 
were  not  to  be  had. 

They  look  forward,  however,  to  the  future,  with  hope.  The 
younger  boys  and  girls  in  our  high  schools,  in  our  Sunday 
Schools,  and  who  attend  our  summer  schools,  are  ambitious 
to  serve.  They  take  a  deep  interest  in  world-wide  missions 
and  there  is  promise  of  many  lives  being  olTered  to  the  Church 
for  service  in  the  foreign  fields. 

Just  what  the  effect  of  the  war  will  be  upon  the  student  class 
who  have  enlisted,  even  upon  the  probationers  for  the  ministry 
and  candidates  for  the  foreign  fields,  is  a  question  which 
very  few  will  attempt  to  answer  at  the  present  time.  It  is, 
however,  our  hope  that  many  who  return  from  army  service 
will  ofi^er  themselves  for  all  branches  of  work  in  the  foreign 
field. 


93 


THE    EFFECT    OF    THE    WAR    ON    SECUR- 
ING MISSIONARY  CANDIDATES  IN 
THE    UNITED    STATES 

By  Dr.  Charles  R.  Watson,  Philadelphia 

I  am  asked  to  speak  on  the  missionary  candidate  problem 
in  the  United  States  as  affected  by  the  war.  I  have  found  it 
necessary  to  make  a  very  sharp  distinction  between  certain 
general  impressions  that  prevail  as  to  the  effect  of  the  war 
and  the  situation  as  we  discover  it  in  our  investigations.  Let 
us  look  at  the  problem  on  the  numerical  side. 

1.  The  war  has  not  decreased  very  seriously  the  number 
of  outgoing  missionaries.  The  reason  is  obvious.  The  United 
States  has  been  in  the  war  but  a  very  short  period.  War 
was  declared  so  close  to  the  time  of  the  sailing  of  missionaries 
in  1 91 7  that  practically  all  those  under  appointment  that  year 
adhered  to  their  plans  for  sailing.  The  ordained  men  were 
allowed  exemption  and  felt  that  since  they  were  so  far  along 
with  their  plans  they  should  go  forward  without  hesitation. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  therefore,  you  will  not  find  any  great 
falling  off  in  the  number  of  those  who  have  sailed.  For  ex- 
ample, for  the  United  Presbyterian  Board,  the  totals  of  sail- 
ings during  the  last  three  years  are  :  11,  10,  18.  For  the  Baptist 
Board:  25,  27,  28.  For  the  Congregational  Board  the  figures 
for  1914  to  1917  are:  52,  44,  55.  W^e  see,  therefore,  that  as 
regards  the  number  actually  sailing,  the  war  had  no  serious 
adverse  effects. 

2.  The  effect  of  the  war  is  more  marked  as  regards  men 
than  as  regards  women.  Examining  the  details,  you  generally 
find  that  it  is  by  an  increase  in  the  number  of  women  who 
hav€  sailed  that  you  arrive  at  a  total  that  is  either  ecjual  to  or 
more  favorable  than  the  figures  of  a  i)revious  year. 

3.  The  effect  of  the  war  is  more  marked  in  connection 
with  the  earHer  periods  of  the  candidate's  life.  In  olher 
words,  the  war  has  not  seriously  affected  the  plans  of  those 
who  were  on  the  verge  of  sailing ;  but  it  has  seriously  affected 
the  plans  of  those  who  were  in  the  j^eriod  of  voHmteering. 
The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  reports  during  the  last 
three  years  a  decided  falling  off  in  the  number  of  men  who 
have  volunteered — especially  during  the  first  part  of  the  aca- 
demic year  1917-18. 

4.  It  may  be  worth  while  observing,  although  it  does  not 
deal   with   the  cjuestion   of   candidates,   that   the   war   has   in- 

94 


Effect  of  War  on   Seoiirins   missionary  Candidates   in   ITnitod   States 

fluenced  most  directly  the  forces  actually  in  service  on  the 
field.  For  example,  the  statistics  show  that,  for  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  we  had  a  year  ago  a  foreign  missionary 
staff  of  9,358,  whereas  in  1918  we  have  9,563.  When  these 
figures  are  analyzed,  it  is  discovered  that  there  was  actually 
a  falling  off  of  almost  two  hundred  in  the  number  of  men  avail- 
able for  the  work. 

Out  of  this,  I  draw  the  general  conclusion  that  the  effect 
of  the  war  is  more  likely  to  be  felt  a  few  years  hence ;  in 
other  words,  a  few  years  hence  we  shall  feel  the  shortage 
created  by  the  war  by  the  temporary  or  permanent  withdrawal 
of  men  during  the  years  of  their  training. 

5.  The  shortage  that  shouU  normally  be  experienced  a 
few  years  hence  may,  however,  be  entirely  overcome  by  in- 
fluences which  will  operate  in  a  most  powerful  fashion  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  missionary  recruits.  It  is  our  firm  be- 
lief that  this  will  be  the  case.  There  has  been  a  broadening 
of  the  horizon  of  our  thinking  and  our  sympathy.  As  United 
States  citizens,  I  believe  we  have  been  particularly  provincial 
in  the  past.  It  is  a  disability  under  which  we  have  lived  as 
compared  with  the  advantage  belonging  to  our  friends  in 
Great  Britain.  Their  political  relationships  with  a  world  em- 
pire tended  to  give  to  their  people  a  world  outlook  which  we 
of  the  United  States  have  never  enjoyed.  This  war  has, 
therefore,  been  a  God-send  to  us  in  broadening  our  horizon. 

6.  The  war  has  had  its  effect  in  creating  a  deep  interest 
in  foreign  lands.  Our  boys  who  have  been  overseas  have 
seen  at  first  hand,  not  merely  the  peoples  of  Europe,  the 
French,  the  Italians  and  the  Portuguese,  but  they  have  seen 
legions  of  non-Christians  fighting  alongside  of  them,  such  as 
the  Algerians,  the  Senegalese  and  others,  and  also  the  labor 
battalions  working  behind  them,  the  Chinese,  the  Indians  and 
those  drawn  from  the  great  colonies  of  France  and  Africa. 
Their  memory  of  the  fellowship  of  these  races  with  us  in  this 
great  struggle  will  undoubtedly  be  an  asset  as  we  appeal  to 
them  for  the  investment  of  life  in  the  service  of  these  same 
lands  and  these  same  peoples  through  Foreign  Missions. 

7.  Surely  we  should  note  the  tremendous  asset  that 
we  have  and  whose  results  we  shall  see  in  the  sacrificial  spirit 
that  has  been  developed  and  revealed  by  this  great  war.  Noth- 
ing can  rob  us  of  our  priceless  possession  of  the  spirit  of  sacri- 
fice in  this  war.  Henceforth,  it  will  not  seem  an  unreasonable 
thing  to  ask  not  simply  for  one  life,  but  for  every  life  in  a 
family  for  tlie  service  of  Christ,  because  such  demands  have 
been  made  of  families  again  and  again  in  this  great  struggle 
and  they  were  responded  to. 

Now  in  closing,  just  a  word  as  to  the  possible  eff'ect  of 

95 


Women   C'nndiilntcs  and   the   ^V:^^ 

this  war  upon  the  attitude  of  the  candidate  toward  the  type  of 
work  that  has  been  mainly  represented  by  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Movement.  Personally,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
there  is  going  to  be  a  modification  of  the  interest  m  Foreign 
Missions.  There  will  be  a  broader  interest  than  formerly.  The 
candidate  will  realize  that  after  all  the  aim  of  the  foreign 
missionary  enterprise  is  to  usher  in  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  the  conditions  which  belong  to  it.  But  he  will  realize  that 
while  the  evangelistic  work  is  directly  related  to  that  great  aim, 
there  are  other  great  agencies  that  God  is  using  in  this  common 
task.  It  is  the  lesson  that  comes  out  of  the  consecration  of 
armies  to  the  service  of  liberty  and  to  the  service  of  the  King- 
dom of  God.  So  the  missionary  candidate  will  henceforth 
regard  other  ag-encies  and  other  activities  as  working  with 
him,  and  it  may  even  be  that  he  will  feel  called  to  lend  a 
hand  to  these  other  agencies  and  forces  that  are  working  along 
educational  lines  and  governmental  lines,  just  as  he  felt  justi- 
fied in  turning  aside  from  his  missionary  calling  to  serve  under 
arms  because  at  that  moment  the  Kingdom  of  God  called  for 
that  service  and  because  that  service  was  closely  and  vitally  re- 
lated to  all  the  possibilities  of  future  missionary  work  through- 
out the  world. 


WOMEN  CANDIDATES  AND  THE  WAR 

By  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Peabody,  Beverly,  Mass. 

The  war  has  made  it  easier  to  present  foreign  missions  since 
the  war  was  itself  a  foreign  mission  with  a  noble  motive  of 
redemption.  The  war  has  rediscovered  or  reemphasized  cer- 
tain lost  truths  and  reinstated  some  vanishing  ideals.  It  has 
convinced  the  world  of  sin  and  wrath  and  of  a  Day  of  Judg- 
ment. It  has  shown  how  essential  is  a  Savior  of  the  world. 
It  has  restated  the  law  of  sacrifice  ;  for  without  shedding  blood 
there  was  no  remission.  It  has  revealed  the  angel  in  man 
and  woman  and  has  shown  us  the  beast.  We  have  seen  young 
lads  meet  death  with  a  cheer  and  enter  with  a  serene  con- 
viction upon  immortality.  We  have  known  fathers  and  moth- 
ers suddenly  strong  to  send  their  sons  and  daughters  to  death 
for  the  sake  of  the  freedom  of  humanity.  We  are  now  watch- 
ing the  birth  of  world  democracy  and  are  realizing  a  new 
universal  sympathy.  We  are  bound  by  duty  to  Allies.  We 
are  caught  and  held  in  the  new  internationalism. 

How  has  the  war  especially  affected  women? 

It  has  helped  them  to  drop  games  and  pettiness  and  points 

96 


Women   Cnndidatcs  and   the  War 

of  precedence  and  to  forget  themselves  in  a  great  cause.  They 
have  knit  and  made  comfort  bags  and  done  Red  Cross  work. 
They  have  conducted  campaigns  and  built  hostess's  houses 
and  gone  into  camps  and  have  fought  liquor  and  vice  and 
temptation.  They  have  donned  uniforms  and  marched  in  pro- 
cessions. They  have  worked  in  munitions  factories  and  on 
street  cars  and  in  elevators.  They  have  made  awful  concoc- 
tions in  the  way  of  war  foods,  and  have  compelled  their  fami- 
lies to  consume  them  cheerfully.  They  have  been  under  the 
strict  military  discipline  of  Mr.  Hoover  and  have  not  failed 
in  obedience.  They  have  served  on  Councils  of  Defense  and 
Liberty  Loan  Committees.  They  have  talked  on  street  corners 
to  men  collectively  with  the  authority  reserved  hitherto  for 
their  husbands  at  home.  All  these  things  women  have  done  and 
more.  They  have  gone  overseas  as  nurses  and  canteen  work- 
ers, as  ambulance  drivers  and  servants.  They  have  written 
wonderful  messages  in  magazines  and  books ;  and,  last  but  not 
least,  they  have  stayed  at  home,  most  of  them,  without  uniform 
or  parade — the  great  rank  and  file — they  of  the  order  of  the 
gingham  apron,  and  have  let  go  out  of  their  sight  with  a  smile 
that  God  somehow  made  possible  the  sons  they  bore,  the  hus- 
bands on  whom  they  leaned.  They  have  written  letters  with 
cheerful  camouflage,  and  have  kept  up  the  morale  of  the  men 
in  the  trenches.  These  are  the  visible  results.  The  spiritual 
achievements  may  not  be  recorded. 

How  will  this  war  experience  affect  our  women's  mission- 
ary work  in  th-e  world?  Shall  we  see  repeated  the  history  of 
the  Civil  War,  when  after  the  years  of  service  for  the  army, 
women  turned  their  attention,  their  own  hearts  breaking  with 
sorrow  and  loss,  to  the  bitter  sorrows  of  the  women  of  the 
world  who  had  no  Comforter?  Then  the  great  foreign  mis- 
sionary societies  of  women  were  born  and  developed.  These 
societies  are  to-day  celebrating  their  jubilee  anniversary.  But 
there  is  the  danger  always  that  the  good  may  be  the  enemy 
of  the  best,  and  the  very  fact  that  women  have  much  to  their 
credit  in  this  department  of  service  during  fifty  years  may 
cause  failure  to-day  to  meet  the  present  greater  world  crisis. 
There  is  danger  that  the  missionary  societies  themselves  with 
conservatism  and  timidity  will  be  content  to  go  on  along  their 
beaten  path  without  the  new  and  larger  vision  which  the  war 
has  brought. 

How  shall  the  heroism  and  the  efficiency  developed  in  the 
war  be  captured  for  great  spiritual  ends?  How  shall  women 
be  fitted  for  the  new  world  democracy?  It  will  be  necessary 
to  restate  our  appeal  in  ter-ms  that  women  can  understand. 
We  have  succeeded  in  fifty  years  in  commanding  the  atten- 
tion of  only  one-fifth  of  the  Christian  women  of  our  country 

97 


iv«niieu   <  aii<Iii1:i4os  and   the  War 

in  this  wide  sphere  of  international  Christian  service.  There  is 
a  mighty  work  to  b€  done  at  once  in  the  churches.  As  men 
have  taken  advantage  of  demobilization  to  send  their  appeal  to 
the  camps  in  this  country  and  to  the  troops  overseas,  the 
women's  boards,  if  they  are  to  meet  the  present  -emergency, 
must  frame  an  appeal  to  arrest  the  attention  of  professional 
women  already  trained,  teachers,  doctors,  nurses,  specialists 
in  social  service  and  educational  work.  We  cannot  wait  until 
the  colleges  have  given  us  the  results  of  work  to  be  done  this 
year.  There  are  students  in  colleges  who  will  be  ready  in  five 
years  or  ten  years ;  but  the  crisis  is  on  to-day.  The  appeal 
must  be  sent  out  immediately  to  groups  of  women  who  have 
already  graduated — to  those  already  trained  and  tested.  They 
must  face  with  us  the  world  need;  they  must  realize  that  if 
men  are  needed  in  China  and  India  and  Africa,  women  are 
needed  a  hundred- fold  more,  since  the  women  are  a  century 
behind  the  men,  in  these  lands,  and  a  nation  cannot  rise  higher 
than  its  women. 

It  was  suggested  that  we  might  consider  the  question  of 
women  supplying  the  places  of  men  in  the  foreign  mission 
fields,  just  as  they  have  supplied  their  places  in  various  depart- 
ments of  industry  at  home.  Since  demobilization  is  so  near, 
we  believe  there  will  not  be,  with  the  aggressive  plans  in 
prospect,  any  deficiency  of  men.  It  is  far  more  likely  that  we 
shall  lack  women.  There  are  many  departments  of  foreign 
mission  work  which  cannot,  ought  not  to  be  assumed  by 
women.  We  believe  that  the  very  best  assistance  we  can 
render  to  the  general  boards  is  to  do  the  work  of  the  women's 
boards  with  the  greatest  possible  aggressiveness  and  efficiency. 
The  general  boards  have  surrendered  to  the  women  certain 
departments  of  work  which  they  and  they  alone  can  do.  They 
must  not  be  asked  to  yield  any  of  the  responsibility  for  their 
own  task. 

Some  of  the  compelling  new  demands  on  the  ranks  of  women 
include  teachers  for  colleges  and  medical  schools  recently 
opened.  We  need  immediately  a  corps  of  doctors  and  nurses 
to  supply  vacancies  in  hospitals  closed  or  likely  to  be  closed, 
leaving  women  and  children  without  any  medical  aid.  What 
is  easier  than  to  turn  the  attention  of  women  who  have  given 
themselves  to  the  service  of  humanity  through  the  Red  Cross 
to  this  far  greater  service,  involving  larger  territories,  greater 
numbers,  and  more  terrible  suffering?  We  need  medical  units 
in  every  Oriental  country,  well  equipped  as  they  have  never 
yet  been.  There  is  a  call  immediately  for  fifty  women  doctors 
to  supply  most  urgent  needs  as  the  heads  of  hospitals  and  on 
faculties  of  the  new  medical  schools  for  Oriental  women. 
There  is  an  imperative  need  of  a  corps  of  well-trained  teachers 

98 


Women   Candidates  and  the  War 

with  modern  educational  methods.  We  especially  need  expert 
primary  teachers,  and  those  who  are  qualified  to  train  teach- 
ers. We  cannot  ask  Japan  and  China  to  accept  a  lower  grade 
of  service  than  we  furnish  in  this  country  and  all  these 
must  be  of  the  highest  Christian  character,  willing  to  sacrifice 
position  and  money  and  life  for  this  great  spiritual  adventure. 
The  greatest  need  of  all  is  for  thoroughly  trained  Bible  teach- 
ers and  interpreters,  evangelists  who  can  organize  and  train 
groups  of  Christian  women  to  present  the  Gospel  to  the  masses 
of  women  shut  in  and  shut  out  from  all  opportunities  to  know 
the  Savior  of  the  world.. 

The  war  has  roused  even  backward  nations  to  their  in- 
dustrial opportunities.  While  we  may  find  our  need  of  in- 
dustrial missions,  so-called,  lessening,  we  shall  find  a  thousand- 
fold more  need  of  social  and  economic  workers  who  have  been 
trained  to  meet  these  problems  and  to  prevent  the  exploitation 
of  women  and  children  which  has  been  a  blot  on  the  industrial 
systems  of  Europe  and  America. 

Can  anyone  question  the  unparalleled  opportunity  for 
women's  work  to-day  in  the  Near  East,  in  the  Far  East,  in 
South  America,  in  Africa?  The  foundations  have  been  laid 
in  all  these  lands.  Now  comes  the  new  period  of  expansion 
with  the  necessity  for  the  training  of  hundreds  of  these 
Oriental  women  for  Christian  leadership  among  their  own 
peoples.  Are  we  prepared?  What  is  our  program?  Victory 
will  not  come  to  vis ;  we  must  win  it  and  to  win  it  we  must 
have  first  a  united  campaign.  We  must  recognize  the  necessity 
of  working  together,  of  praying  together,  and  of  presenting 
together  the  plan  for  the  salvation  of  the  women  of  the  world. 
This  will  involve  women  as  well  as  the  men  in  an  adequate 
recruiting  program,  and  as  Dr.  Speer  has  stated,  "we  cannot 
wait." 

If  any  one  feels  that  the  field  has  been  worked,  let  me  give 
you  one  instance  of  a  church  in  New  England  in  an  ordinary 
community.  A  typical  case,  alas !  On  the  flag  of  that  church 
may  be  found  one  hundred  forty-five  stars  for  young  men  and 
women  who  have  gone  into  war  service  from  patriotic  motives. 
On  that  church  flag  is  not  one  missionary  star.  Is  it  not  time 
that  we  hung  out  service  flags  for  the  Church  army  overseas  ? 
Is  there  not  a  service  which  women's  missionary  societies 
render  in  bringing  this  great  lack  to  the  attention  of  all  Chris- 
tian people?  Let  us  use  the  catchwords  that  have  served  so 
splendidly  in  the  raising  of  great  funds  and  in  recruitmg  of 
great  masses  of  men  and  women— in  addition  to  LEND — 
GIVE ! — JOIN  !  let  the  Church  present  its  Great  Adventure 
and  add  its  call — GO !  SEND !  the  call  of  the  Captain  of  our 
united  forces.     There  need  be  no  fear  that  we  cannot  find 

99 


Woinen   CniididatcN   and   the   \Var 

women  of  sufficient  consecration  and  training  ready  if  they, 
knew  th€  need.  We  have  not  reaHzed  the  vision  of  Mary 
Lyon  who,  a  hundred  years  ago,  stated:.  "A  lady  should  be 
so  educated  that  she  can  go  as  a  missionary  on  a  fortnight's 
notice."  Unfortunately  our  women's  colleges  have  not  all  held 
to  the  motto  of  Mary  Lyon  that  students  should  ''live  for  God 
and  do  something."  But  some  ar€  ready.  We  must  have 
women  educated  not  only  in  college  but  in  the  school  of  life. 

With  a  consciousness  of  the  great  difficulties  in  the  path, 
and  a  realization  of  our  own  weakness  in  spite  of  the  develop- 
ment of  power  during  the  war,  there  is  infinite  hope.  We 
are  inteii^rcting  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  Margaret  Deland  in 
a  recent  article  in  the  American  Magazine  has  brought  out 
marvelously  the  sacramental  idea  in  this  hour  of  sacrifice  for 
the  world.  In  speaking  of  our  boys  and  their  wonderful,  joyful 
gift  of  life  in  the  war,  she  brings  to  us  with  a  new  meaning 
the  Great  Sacrifice  into  which  they  entered  and  we  too  must 
enter.  "He  took  the  cup  and  gave  thanks."  Are  we  as  women 
also  ready  to  take  this  cup  which  means  a  sacrificial  gift  of 
life  and  wealth  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  redemption 
of  His  world,  a  sacrifice  and  sacrament  such  as  we  have  never 
known  ? 

As  peace  dawned  after  four  years  of  awful  tumult  there 
came  to  our  hearts  with  a  new  meaning  the  vision  revealed 
to  John  on  the  sea-bound  Island  of  Patmos — -"And  I  saw  a 
new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first 
earth  were  passed  away  and  there  zvas  no  more  sea."  The  sea 
which  has  barred  men  and  women  from  each  other  through 
all  generations,  the  estranging  sea  which  has  hampered  and 
separated,  has  been  bridged  by  the  young  lives  of  our  boys  in 
the  cau.se  of  world  freedom,  and  not  our  men  alone,  but  the 
men  of  India,  of  China,  of  Japan,  and  of  Africa  and  the 
Islands,  have  flung  their  lives  across  all  the  seas  and  to-day 
we  too  enter  into  the  revelation  of  John.  We  can  go  to  mothers 
and  fathers,  to  young  men  and  young  women  now,  and  ask 
them  in  the  name  of  God  and  Humanity  to  enter  upon  life 
service  in  a  new  world  which  is  one  world.  We  can  go  to-day 
to  women  of  all  nations,  those  who  are  waiting  in  bondage 
over  there,  with  the  message  of  salvation,  and  a  Savior.  For 
there  is  no  more  sea !  "And  there  shall  be  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness."  This  vision  may 
be  realized  if  we,  whom  God  has  placed  as  Christian  leaders 
in  foreign  missionary  work,  will  listen  not  to  our  fears,  but  tq 
His  mighty  call  and  opportunity. 


100 


tHE    RESPONSIBILITY    OF    THE    BOARDS 
IN  SECURING  QUALIFIED  CANDIDATES 

By  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D, 


From  my  observations  I  am  led  to  doubt  if  any  of  our 
leaders  really  realize  the  significance  of  candidates  for  mis- 
sionary service.  When  we  look  at  the  organizations  within 
the  Boards,  the  Candidate  Departments,  my  impression  is  that 
no  Board  fully  grasps  the  importance  of  the  candidates  if  we 
judge  by  the  importance  it  places  upon  the  Candidate  Depart- 
ment and  the  Candidate  Secretary.  I  wonder  if  there  is  any 
Board  that  has  a  Candidate  Secretary  who  is  really  and  only 
a  Candidate  Secretary  so  that  his  candidate  work  is  not  a 
mere  incident.  Do  we  realize  that  the  candidate  is  more  im- 
portant than  the  Secretary  at  home  ?  The  success  of  the  work 
abroad  depends  on  the  adequately  equipped  missionary.  We 
migliJ:  have  millions  of  dollars  in  money  and  if  we  did  not 
have  able  missionaries  on  the  field  our  work  would  be  a  total 
failure.  The  missionary  is  the  Mission  Board  in  operation. 
It  depends  upon  the  men  and  women  sent  out  as  to  whether 
mission  work  is  to  succeed  or  is  not  to  succeed,  and  yet  our 
Candidate  Department  at  home  is  often  regarded  as  an  in- 
cident. 

If  I  were  going  to  take  a  text  this  morning,  I  would  choose 
as  my  text :  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread" — and  in 
counterpart :  "Pray  the  Lord  at  the  harvest,  that  he  thrust 
forth  laborers  into  the  harvest."  When  we  pray  "Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread,"  we  know  we  must  plow  and  sow  and 
reap  and  grind  and  bake,  if  we  expect  that  prayer  to  be 
answered.  And  yet  the  Boards  have  prayed  the  Lord  to  thrust 
forth  laborers  into  the  harvest,  and  have  supinely  waited  for 
the  answer.  We  have  taken  practically  the  position  of  that 
moderator  who  said,  when  Carey  wanted  to  go  into  the  mission 
field,  "Sit  down,  young  man — when  the  Lord  wants  to  convert 
the  heathen.  He  will  do  it  without  any  of  your  help." 

I  have  talked  with  a  Candidate  Secretary  of  a  Mission 
Board  who  said  he  thought  it  was  a  dangerous  thing  to  ask 
anybody  to  be  a  foreign  missionary.  His  theory  was,  and  he 
believed  in  it  (he  is  not  living  now),  that  it  was  not  the 
Board's  business  to  ask  any  one  to  become  a  missionaiy.  He 
thought  that  if  the  Lord  wanted  a  young  man  to  go  into  the 
missionai-y  service,  He  would  call  and  send  him ;  this  Secre- 
tary would  neither  plow,  nor  sow,  nor  reap,  nor  grind,  nor 

lOI, 


Responsibility  of  Bonril.s   in   Securing  Qualified   Candidates 

bake,  but  he  would  pray  "Give  me  this  day  my  daily  bread," 
and  then  wait  to  have  his  bread  put  into  his  mouth.  We  have 
got  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  but  we  have  got  to  help 
the  Lord  do  the  thrusting.  We  remember  that  our  Lord 
Jesus  Himself,  when  He  set  out  to  make  up  His  school  of  the 
Apostles,  He  did  not  advertise  but  He  went  out  and  one  by 
one  He  picked  His  men.  With  all  reverence,  if  He  had  waited 
for  applications  to  come  in,  a  good  deal  more  than  eight  per 
cent  of  them  would  have  been  failures,  but  He  selected  His 
candidates  and  then  He  started  a  school  to  train  them  for 
the  great  service  that  He  was  to  put  upon  them.  I  believe 
the  principle  that  was  adopted  by  Christ  Himself  should  be 
adopted  by  the  Mission  Board. 

We  must  put  our  missionary  work  upon  the  basis  of  service 
and  sacrifice — the  moral  equivalent  of  war.  Our  young  men 
and  young  women  should  be  made  to  understand  that  this 
missionary  business  is  the  biggest  thing  in  the  world  as  we  go 
to  them  and  ask  them  to  render  a  service  requiring  great 
sacrifice,  hardship  and  peril,  but  that  it  is  the  greatest  thing 
in  the  world  because  we  are  organizing  nations.  We  are 
just  beginning  to  grasp  the  fact  now  in  these  later  days  of 
the  war,  that  it  is  the  missionary  work  that  is  going  to  save 
this  world  after  all. 

How  are  we  going  to  make  these  great  Eastern  nations 
safe  for  themselves  and  for  the  world,  unless  we  plant  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  hearts  of  the  men  and  the 
women  that  are  making  the  new  democracies  of  the  world? 
You  cannot  save  a  democracy  except  you  save  the  people  of 
that  democracy,  and  you  cannot  save  the  people  of  the  democ- 
racies to-day  except  through  those  who  go  there  with  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  to  put  this  Gospel  into  the  hearts  of  people  for 
themselves  and  for  their  national  life.  You  cannot  save  China 
by  diplomacy  or  by  education ;  you  can  save  China  only  by  im- 
pressing upon  China  the  fact  that  it  can  live  only  as  it  has  the 
ideals  of  Christ  at  the  heart  of  her  country. 

We  should  go  to  our  colleges  and  our  theological  schools  and 
say  to  the  faculty,  "Who  are  your  best  men,  who  are  your  best 
women  in  this  institution?"  And  then  go  to  them  and  say, 
"I  want  to  invite  you  to  consider  missionary  work." 

There  is  one  other  thing  in  closing;  I  do  not  like  the  word 
"candidate."  A  candidate  signifies  running  for  office,  it  signi- 
fies putting  up  money  for  the  campaign.  The  fact  that  a 
man  is  a  candidate  for  a  vacant  pulpit  here  at  home  often 
gives  him  a  wrong  standing  in  the  church ;  he  appears  as  a 
man  seeking  a  place.  Words  are  spoiled  by  their  associations 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  word  "candidate"  applied  to  a 
missionary  applicant  should  be  laid  aside.    Let  us  put  "recruit" 

102 


Responsibility  I't  lloardM   In   Set-iiriug  Q,iinlifie<l   Candidates 

in  the  place  of  "candidate."  Let's  keep  a  little  bit  of  the  war 
idea,  we  want  that  war  idea  of  sacrifice,  of  service,  of  hard- 
ship, of  endurance ;  we  want  all  that,  and  let's  call  the  young 
people  "recruits"  and  let's  have  our  recruiting  departments 
in  our  Mission  Boards  and  let's  have  our  recruiting  secre- 
taries and  then  go  into  the  colleges  to  recruit  and  into  our 
theological  seminaries  and  our  women's  colle'ges  for  recruits. 
If  we  could  eliminate  the  candidate  nomenclature  and  get  the 
idea  that  Mission  Boards  are  recruiting  organizations,  to  re- 
cruit for  this  great  service,  with  their  recruiting  department 
and  their  recruiting  officer,  I  believe  we  would  take  a  long 
step  in  advance. 

We  have  got  to  get  at  these  young  people,  see  that  they 
are  properly  trained  to  go  to  China  or  elsewhere  to  go  there 
to  represent  the  greatest  and  highest  ideals  that  ever  have 
come  before  the  world  and  the  ideals  which  only  are  going 
to  save  this  old  world,  in  the  reorganization  after  the  war, 
the  great  ideals  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  apply  not  only  to 
society,  but  to  national  salvation. 

DISCUSSION 

Rev.  Brewer  Eddy:  If  Dr.  Watson's  paper  implied  that  there  will 
be  a  shortage  of  men  in  the  next  two  years,  I  doubt  if  I  could  agree 
with  him.  As  I  see  it  we  are  going  to  be  able  to  get  a  stronger  type 
of  men,  and  more  of  them,  and  I  think  we  should  not  quite  agree  that 
the  fact  that  men  have  left  their  institutions  to  go  into  service  will 
delay  men  in  their  preparation.  .  I  do  not  think  that  the  number  of 
volunteers  will  be  in  the  least  decreased.  We  think  that  they  will  be 
very  rapidly  increased,  because  the  life  dedication  involved  in  enlist- 
ment and  service,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  is  such  a  close  cousin 
to  the  life  enlistment  on  the  mission  field.  I  have  been  in  touch,  per- 
sonally, with  a  few  men,  not  enough  yet,  to  generalize  upon,  who  wanr 
to  go  to  the  mission  field  because  they  were  disappointed  in  not  getting 
into  overseas  service. 

The  men  who  are  ready  to  join  our  new  band  for  Turkey,  surprised 
us  at  times  in  number  and  in  quality,  men  whom  we  could  not  reach 
for  regular  lines  of  missionary  service  are  very  anxious  to  go  into  the 
work  that  combines  real  life  elements  and  opens  a  future  in  missionary 
service. 

If  men  with  whom  I  have  been  in  correspondence,  who  left  their 
institutions  last  April  and  who  are  coming  back  into  their  institutions 
in  January  and  February  from  home  camps,  receive  credit  for  that 
year's  work,  they  will  graduate  with  their  classes.  The  institutions 
are  allowing  them  this.  As  I  see  it  all  boards  should  expect  more 
volunteers,  in  a  richer  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  of  a  distinctly  more 
virile  quality  than  we  have  ever  had  before.  They  may  not  express 
their  religious  motives  in  the  same  terms  as  heretofore,  but  we  have 
received  great  reservoirs  of  strength  through  the  military  training  of 
men,  and  they  are  coming  to  our  mission  boards,  T  believe,  in  a  flood. 

This  is  a  good  time,  I  think,  for  all  candidate  secretaries  to  revise 
tlieir  files.  I  began  it  this  fall,  and  I  have  gotten  as  far  as  the  letter 
"J."     We  are  seiiding  a  letter  to  every  man  who  has  ever  been  on  our 

103 


Responsibility  of  Boards  in   Securing  (iiialiAcd  Candidates 

list  in  the  last  six  or  eight  years.  Many  of  them  have  been  disturbed 
from  their  former  lines  of  preparation.  We  ought  not  to  drop  any 
man  whom  wc  cannot  locate,  because  he  may  be  overseas.  But  men 
who  tell  us  now  that  they  have  given  up  the  missionary  idea,  I  think 
may  as  well  be  dropped.  We  are  going  to  get  new  supplies.  Many  of 
us  will  be  able  to  cut  down  our  files  to  less  than  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
amount  of  correspondence  we  have  had  in  those  files  before.  We  are 
having  a  grand  clearing,  because  the  intervention  of  the  war  has  shaken 
men  loose,  and  we  are  not  sul)sisting  longer  on  echoes  of  missionary 
purposes,  we  are  down  to  greater  reality  now  than  ever  before.  This 
year  will  be  a  great  year  of  clearance  for  candidate  secretaries,  and  that 
will  bring  in  a  tremendous  number  of  new  men,  ready  for  the  mission 
field,  in  the  finest  possible   spirit. 

Dr.  Orville  Reed:  I  would  like  to  give  a  bit  of  experience.  In 
our  board  (Presbyterian,  New  York)  we  have  fifty  men  in  war  service, 
with  whom  we  have  been  corresponding,  putting  before  them  con- 
stantly two  thoughts,  remember  what  you  are  to  do  yourselves  when 
the  war  is  over,  remember  you  are  the  best  man  to  recruit  among  your 
fellows.  The  moment  the  armistice  was  signed  we  sent  out  a  letter  to 
every  one  of  our  men  in  service,  to  the  effect  that  now  that  war  is 
over  we  expected  them  to  turn  immediately  to  their  foreign  missionary 
vision  and  see  it  in  larger  proportion  than  they  had  ever  seen  it  before. 
We  have  had  the  very  same  responsibility.  Letters  are  coming  con- 
stantly from  these  candidates.  We  have  interviewed  perhaps  a  quarter 
of  them,  and  the  soldiers  who  are  coming  into  our  office  to  see  us 
regarding  the  possibilities  of  new  service  and  the  new  era. 

Dr.  John  F.  Goucher:  One  of  the  direct  outcomes  of  the  war  is 
the  great  emphasis  placed  before  the  Church,  as  to  the  importance  of 
Christian  education.  It  is  "first,  that  which  is  natural  and  afterward 
that  which  is  spiritual."  The  Church  has  been  led  in  that  order  here- 
tofore. We  have  had,  in  Germany,  a  most  extraordinary  demonstra- 
tion of  the  power  of  education  to  create  a  new  personality  and  to 
function  society  along  the  ideal  so  inculcated.  In  forty  years'  training, 
German  Knltur  has  submerged  the  man  and  developed  the  beast.  That 
has  emphasized,  it  seems  to  me,  as  it  never  has  been  emphasized  before, 
the  necessity  for  thorough  Christian  education.  The  Church,  through 
Christian  education,  in  less,  possibly,  than  four  decades,  can  develop 
the  man,  with  the  enfranchisement  of  his  spiritual  powers.  This  is 
quite  possible,  if  we  will  obey  the  command  of  the  Master  to  "go 
teach."  Therefore  one  of  the  most  significant,  most  vital,  most  com- 
prehensive suggestions  that  can  come  to  the  Church  is  its  responsi- 
bility for  systematic,  persistent.   Christian  teaching. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  note  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  accord- 
ing to  His  schedule,  necessary  preparations  for  this  commission  have 
been  in  process  for  some  time.  There  has  never  lieen  in  all  the  past 
history  of  missions  such  an  emphasis  upon  Christian  education  as  there 
is  at  the  present  time.  Throughout  the  different  fields  the  differentia- 
tion of  the  work  and  the  demand  for  specialists  has  created  the  neces- 
sity for  special  preparation.  This  has  forced  upon  the  Church  united 
effort  and  organized  cooperation.  This  compulsion  in  the  field  demon- 
strating inadequacy  of  agents,  and  the  tremendous  complications  of  the 
problem  facing  the  missionaries  have  reacted  upon  the  home  Church 
and  brought  to  pass  in  large  part  the  degree  of  unified  activity  which 
now  exists.  These  union  movements  within  the  United  States  and  in 
Canada  are  but  a  reflection  of  and  responses  to  the  responsibilities 
which  have  been  brought  upon  the  Church  by  answered  prayers  and 
consequent  success  in  the  foreign  fields. 

These    organized    union    movements    in    the    foreign    field    are    very 

104 


Responsibility  of  Boards  iu  Securing  (^iiulifled  Candidates 

notable.  Notice  the  Interdenominational  Universities  at  Chengtu,  West 
China,  at  Nanking,  at  Peking,  at  Foochow,  not  to  mention  others.  With 
their  lands,  buildings,  faculties,  foundations,  student  bodies  and  repu- 
tation they  are  ready  for  a  great  movement  to  develop  a  system  of 
Christian  education  for  China.  So  also  elsewhere.  Thus  through 
preparation  emphasis  is  "put  upon  opportunity  to  meet  this  vision  and 
responsibility  to  do  so.  That  brings  us  back  to  the  country  in  which 
we  are,  namely,  the  united  efforts  which  are  being  made  here,  through 
organizations  such  as  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  and  others 
growing  out  of  it  or  similar  to  it.  The  Church  is  being  thoroughly 
saturated  with  the  spirit  of  cooperation.  I  say  thoroughly.  It  has  not 
yet  worked  to  its  completion.  But  there  is  a  steady  movement  toward 
organized  cooperation  in  all  branches  of  Church  activity.  This  sug- 
gests that  the  Church  is  living  more  and  more  in  harmony  with  the 
command  of  the  Master :  "Lift  up  your  eyes."  This  war  has  com- 
pelled us  to  lift  up  our  eyes  to  a  new  vision — "and  behold  the  fields 
white  already  to  harvest" — we  are  seeing  responsibilities  and  urgency 
in  widening  areas,  and  are  praying  accordingly.  This  quickened  sym- 
pathy manifests  itself  in  this  gathering,  and  in  all  similar  gatherings, 
where  there  is  a  concentration  of  thought,  and  interpretation  of  deter- 
mination to  do  His  work  according  to  the  divine  commission — to  pre- 
pare adequate  agents  to  "go  teach." 

Rev.  James  Lewis:  There  is  also  the  immediate  necessity  of  the 
construction  by  all  of  the  Mission  Boards,  together  with  the  foreign 
departments  of  the  Y.  M.  &  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  of  a  program  for  world  recon- 
struction and  the  number  of  missionaries  needed  therefor.  It  ought 
to  be  a  united  program.  We  face  to-day  such  a  critical  opportunity 
and  need  as  we  have  never  faced  before.  A  million  men  have  been 
killed  from  Britain,  one  out  of  every  seven  men  that  went  from  Can- 
ada ;  a  million,  four  hundred  twenty-five  thousand  men  killed  in  France. 
America  has  the  only  reserve  man  power  there  is  to-day,  and  I  can 
say  from  life  in  the  camps  for  the  last  few  months,  that  the  men  of 
the  American  army  are  willing  not  only,  but  glad  to  take  up  this 
opportunity  to  teach  liberty  to  those  nations  and  peoples  whom  Amer- 
ica has  helped  to  make  free. 

To  conserve  this  attitude  and  bring  resultant  action  is  the  chance 
which  comes  to  us  at  this  moment  of  demobilization.  I  think  now  of 
a  member  in  the  Intelligence  Department  in  China  who  has  written 
back  to  a  friend  of  mine,  saying  that  as  soon  as  he  can  obtain  his  dis- 
charge, he  wants  to  volunteer  and  return  to  China  as  a  missionary 
because  he  believes  that  only  in  such  way  can  he  render  his  largest 
service  to  the  new  day  in  China.  In  talking  to  a  group  of  officers  in 
an  officers'  club  in  one  of  our  large  camps  a  little  while  ago,  the  men 
there  were  undecided  as  to  what  they  should  do  after  the  war.  I 
mentioned  incidentally  my  own  work  with  missions,  and  they  said, 
"That  appeals  to  us  as  the  only  constructive  program  for  the  world 
after  the  war." 

Another  phase  of  possibility  presents  itself  at  this  moment.  Unless 
the  work  of  building  democracy  is  done  by  the  Christian  forces  of 
America,  through  Christian  chaimels,  it  is  going  to  be  done  largely  by 
some  other  agencies.  Mr.  Morgenthau  calls  for  American  troops  to 
go  to  help  reconstruct  Europe.  That  is  not  the  function  of  our  Gov- 
ernment ;  it  is  not  primarily  the  function  of  the  Red  Cross,  but  it  is 
the  function,  decidedly,  of  the  Christian  Church.  It  alone  can  do  this 
work  in  a  way  which  will  prevent  future  wars  and  really  build  Chris- 
tian civilization. 

Another  phase  is  the  large  increase  which  is  bound  to  come  in  the 
Navy  and  Army  preparations  of  America,    We  are  talking  now  about 


Responsibility  of  Boards  in   Securing'  Qunlified   Candidates 

a  three  years'  program  for  our  Government,  six  hundred  million  dol- 
lars a  3'ear;  thirty  times  the  amount  that  we  have  been  contributing  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  for  foreign  missions,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  Great  Britain  controls  and  will  continue  to  control  the  sea. 
If  the  money  for  this  navy  program  comes  out  of  the  pockets  of  the 
Christians  of  America,  there  will  likely  be  less  to  give  for  foreign 
missions.  The  Government  is  going  to  increase  its  regular  army  six- 
fold. We  had  fifty-two  hundred  officers  in  January,  1917.  The  plan 
now  is  for  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  officers.  Instead  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  thousand  men,  we  are  going  to  have  an  army  of 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand   men. 

The  Christian  Churches  to-day  face  an  unparalleled  opportunity  and 
an  unparalleled  responsibility.  It  is  high  time  that  all  of  the  Mission 
Boards  and  the  foreign  departments  of  the  Christian  associations  get 
together,  make  out  a  definite,  comprehensive  program  for  reconstruc- 
tion, perhaps  far  beyond  the  highest  dreams  of  any  particular  move- 
ment or  Board,  and  then  go  out  after  the  men  and  women  to  meet 
those  needs.  The  money  will  come.  Unless  we  do  this  we  fail,  and  if 
we  fail,  we  deserve  to  fail ;  but  it  will  mean  an  unparalleled  loss  to 
the  Christian  Church. 

Rev.  Brewer  Eddy:  There  is  a  solemn  note  of  warning  in  the 
phrasing  of  Dr.  Barton's  topic,  the  responsibility  of  the  boards.  If 
during  the  next  few  months  we  face  an  opportunity  because  of  the 
post-war  conditions,  we  face  a  tremendous  obligation.  If  we  miss 
the  right  use  of  this  opportunity,  it  will  be  our  own  fault.  And  is 
there  not  a  fair  degree  of  danger  that  a  year  or  two  from  now  we 
will  discover  many  things  we  should  have  been  doing  to  secure  efficient 
men  that  we  have  left  undone.  We  should  not  delay  going  after  the 
men   and   women  we   need   for   our   work. 

I  mentioned  a  moment  ago  clearing  your  files.  The  answers  now 
coming  back  to  my  desk  proves  to  me  that  we  were  late  in  beginning 
this  new  way  of  correspondence. 

When  Dr.  Patton  called  upon  a  man  of  brilliant  qualifications,  and 
spoke  to  him  of  the  need  the  American  Board  had  for  men,  he  said, 
"I  thought  you  were  holding  me  off  for  some  reason."  One  letter 
sent  from  Dr.  Patton's  office  had  gone  astray.  He  had  waited  for 
that  letter,  he  told  Dr.  Patton,  and  was  disappointed  when  it  did  not 
come.  A  few  weeks  ago  we  secured  a  man  for  India,  but  we  came 
near  losing  him  because  we  were  too  slow  in  approaching  him,  for  he 
approached  me  and  said,  "Have  you  decided  to  drop  me?  If  so,  I 
know  where  to  turn."  By  good  fortune  we  got  to  him  before  he 
became  discouraged  with  us  and  turned  to  other  lines  of  service.  And 
I  think  it  only  has  to  be  suggested  to  remind  us  that  we  must  coop- 
erate with  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  in  the  work  they  will  do 
in  our  colleges   during  these  coming  six  months. 

Dr.  Paul  de  Schweinitz:  As  I  came  into  the  room  Dr.  Barton  was 
emphasizing  the  point  of  securing  recruits  for  foreign  service  by  direct 
selection  instead  of  waiting  for  volunteers,  and  I  thought  I  would 
simply  follow  that  up  with  our  own  experience.  We,  of  course,  have 
perhaps  the  one  advantage  of  being  a  small  denomination,  and  we 
know  our  people  pretty  well,  and  have  to  deal  only  with  one  theolog- 
ical seminary,  but  that  is  the  plan  we  have  always  followed,  we  do 
not  make  formal  applications.  I  have  been  Secretary  of  Missions  now 
for  twenty  years,  I  haven't  any  statistics  at  my  fingers'  ends,  but  I  am 
perfectly  safe  in  saying  that  five-sixths  of  the  men  we  have  sent  into 
the  foreign  field  had  not  thought  of  going  untij  I  approached  them 
first.  We  simply  go  through  our  own  theological  seminary,  watch 
the  men  and  when  we  think  we  have  found  a  man  to  go  into  thqt 
particular  field,  we  call  the  man. 

106 


Respousniility  of  Boards   iu   Securing  Q,iialifiea   Candidates 

Dr.  James  Endicott:  We,  in  Canada,  are  counting  on  being  able 
to  get  from  our  depleted  population  plenty  of  missionaries.  Indeed, 
because  we  have  given  such  large  numbers  to  the  war  we  expect  to  get 
them  for  foreign  mission  work,  and  I  am  particularly  glad  because  the 
foreign  missionaries  have  been  in  this  war  business  so  thoroughly.  I 
know  of  no  body  of  men  in  any  country  who  have  been  more  generous 
than  our  own  body  of  missionaries  in  the  foreign  field.  I  have  per- 
sonally handled  thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars  they  have  sent  to 
me  for  war  comforts  and  such  like.  They  were  a  little  body  of  mis- 
sionaries, and  that  means  a  lot.  I  do  not  know  of  a  missionary  in 
the  foreign  field  or  ex-missionary  who  had  a  son  of  military  age  that 
didn't  don  the  khaki.  Several  sons  of  foreign  missionaries  will  never 
come  back  from  Flanders.  These  men  were  not  merely  missionaries, 
but  they  rallied  immediately  to  the  call  of  Europe. 

When  we  say  that  our  men  have  played  the  game,  that  they  are 
the  right  type  of  men,  they  are  virile  stuff,  men  with  vision,  men 
of  virile  stock,  we  can  make  our  appeals  straight  to  the  fellows 
who  come  back  from  the  front  in  the  right  spirit.  Yesterday  we 
got  a  couple  of  letters,  one  from  a  man  written  just  before  the  war 
was  over,  who  said,  "It  looks  now  as  if  the  road  would  be  free  to 
China,"  and  the  other  reaffirms  his  old  attitude  toward  the  mission 
field.  But  after  all  it  will  depend  upon  the  way  secretaries  and 
preachers  and  teachers  can  feel  the  whole  impact  of  this  great  war, 
and   interpret   the   whole  new  world  that   is  opening  up  to  us. 

Dr.  Stanley  White:  While  there  have  been  different  angles  of 
views,  there  has  only  been  one  conclusion  that  we  can  all  reach, 
that  we  are  living  at  a  crucial  time,  so  far  as  the  work  of  Christian 
missions  is  concerned,  that  we  have  been  taught  that  there  are  great 
reserves  that  we  can  appeal  to  in  the  way  of  service  and  that  we 
must  go  and  make  our  appeal  with  the  most  tremendous  boldness. 
Nobody  has  hesitated  to  go  to  any  man  that  was  a  possibility  for 
service  to  his  country  and  put  the  matter  to  him  just  as  directly 
and  forcibly  as  it  could  be  put.  Here  we  are  gathered  together, 
representing  all  the  Mission  Boards.  It  does  seem  to  me  that  we 
ought  to  send  out  from  this  meeting  some  sort  of  a  statement  that 
would  embody  the  spirit  which  has  been  manifested  here  and  which 
is    stirring   all    our   hearts. 

My  thought  was  that  we  might  ask  our  Committee  on  Findings 
to  prepare  such  appeal,  or  suggest  some  way  by  which  it  might  be 
prepared  and  before  we  finish  that  appeal  might  be  given  the  en- 
dorsement of  these  representatives  of  all  the  Mission  Boards. 

Dr.  E.  Munson  Hill:  I  feel  that  there  has  never  been  such  a 
time  to  get  hold  of  young  men  at  the  period  when  they  are  deciding 
their  life  work.  But  we  must  get  to  these  young  men  with  a  voice  that 
has  something  of  authority  in  it.  It  must  come  from  a  high  source. 
There  must  be  a  united  appeal.  Our  united  appeal  should  go  to 
our  young  people  in  these  two  countries  calling  them  to  this  great 
service.  Something  which  would  make  the  boys  feel  that  now  that 
they  have  gone  "over  the  top"  in  France,  they  must  make  ready  to 
go  into  another  great  campaign — that  of  winning  the  world  for 
Christ.  They  should  be  made  to  understand  that  they  have  already 
taken  the  first  step  and  that  they  must  take  the  next  step  in  order 
to    make    good    what    they   have    already    done. 

There  is  one  thing  that  our  Canadian  people  are  doing.  The 
men  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  have  gone  over  to  the  boys  at  the  front  and 
organized  what  we  call  a  Khaki  University.  One  of  our  finest  edu- 
cational leaders,  Dr.  Tory,  Principal  of  one  of  the  Provincial  Uni- 
versities, was  asked  to  organize  it,  and  he  has  organized  it  over  in 
England  and  on  the  Continent,  and  they  have  classes  there  for  these 

107 


Responsibility  of  Boards   in   Securing  Qiinlified  Candidates 

young  men  who  are  invalided  and  who  are  in  training  in  France  and 
Britain,  and  they  are  beginning  regular  courses  to  help  these  men 
do  the  work  that  tliey  have  fallen  out  from  doing  in  going  away  from 
here.  Just  as  I  left  Canada  we  had  taken  another  step  in  doing  that 
thing  theologically.  We  are  in  advance  of  you  in  some  respects,  for 
we  have  in  Montreal  a  United  Theological  College.  The  Congre- 
gationalists  and  the  Methodists  and  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Episco- 
palians have  formed  a  united  theological  faculty  affiliated  with  the 
McGill  University,  and  we  are  making  an  impression  because  we 
are  a  united  body.  Now  that  group  has  chosen  three  of  its  best 
men  to  go  over  there  to  work  with  the  Khaki  University  to  get  at 
those  young  men  who  haven't  yet  been  discharged  from  service  to 
put  the  appeal  before  them  there  for  the  ministry  and  for  mission- 
ary _  service,  and  they  go  in  that  way  with  the  voice  of  the  whole 
Christian  force  of  Canada. 

Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner:  It  has  helped  me  as  I  have  studied  this 
very  difficult  problem  of  securing  an  adequate  number  of  qualified 
men  and  women  for  the  work  of  the  Church  abroad,  to  keep  in  mind 
that  in  this  work  four  processes  must  go  on  all  the  time.  These 
processes  so  shade  into  each  other  and  so  overlap  that  it  is  prac- 
tically impossible  to  indicate  where  one  begins  and  the  other  ends. 
Nevertheless  it  will  help  to  think  of  them  as  distinct.  These  pro- 
cesses are  (i)  the  recruiting,  (2)  the  training,  (3)  the  selecting, 
and  (4)  the  appointing  of  missionary  candidates.  There  is  no 
conflict  between  the  different  processes.  Theoretically  they  should 
follow  each  other  in  logical  order.  But  we  know  that  when  we 
corne  to  deal  with  men  and  women  such  things  do  not  work  out  in 
logical    order. 

The  distinctive  work  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  --  that 
of  recruiting.  This  has  always  been  its  primary  work  and  to  this 
work  we  have  given  ourselves  with  all  the  resources  at  our  dis- 
posal, but  we  have  never  attained  our  ideals.  The  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  has  been  accepted  by  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards  as  their 
agency  which  is  concentrating  on  this  great  work — and  during  the 
more  than  thirty  years  of  its  history  it  has  devoted  all  its  energies 
with  singleness  of  purpose  to  this  one  task. 

The  other  three  processes,  the  training,  selecting  and  appointing, 
cannot  be  done  by  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement.  They  must 
be  carried  on  by  the  agency  which  in  the  last  analysis  must  become 
responsible  for  the  employment  and  direction  of  the  worker  when  he 
enters  upon  his  life  work.  So  far  as  our  Foreign  Mission  Boards 
are  concerned,  that  is  the  work  of  the  Candidate  Committee  and 
the  Candidate  Secretary.  As  I  said  in  the  beginning,  all  these  pro- 
cesses overlap  and  shade  into  each  other.  A  Student  Volunteer 
Secretary  is  obliged  to  give  suggestions  as  to  courses  of  study  and 
training;  he  cannot  help  himself.  And  so  the  Board  Secretaries  must 
help  young  people  in  the  period  during  which  they  are  trying  to 
decide  what  their  life  work  is  to  be.  Making  all  due  allowance  for 
this  overlapping,  the  functions  of  a  Candidate  Department  and  the 
Candidate  Secretary  stand  out  clearly.  Their  work  is  to  study  the 
candidate  and  decide  whether  or  not  h\c,  qualifications  are  such  that 
he  will  fit  into  the  work  which  the  Board  wants  him  to  do.  The 
functions  of  the  Candidate  Secretary  and  the  Candidate  Department 
must  be  of  a  judicial  character.  Candidates  come  to  the  attention 
of  the  Candidate  Department  in  all  stages  of  development.  The 
Candidate  Department  must  be.  responsible  for  the  training,  the  selec- 
tion and  the  appointment  of  the  candidate.  One  of  the  difficulties  we 
at  present  are  contending  with  is   due   to  the  fact  that  young  people 

108 


Responsibility  of  Boards  in   Sceurlus  (iiinlificd  Caudidatcs 

who  want  to  be  missionaries  have  no  one  to  guide  them  in  their  prepa- 
ration. 

Our  Boards  in  the  past  have  found  that  their  candidates  were 
secured  very  easily.  We  still  expect  to  find  them  ready,  trained  and 
prepared  for  any  kind  of  work  to  be  done  on  the  neld.  The  situa- 
tion has  changed,  but  our  methods  of  dealing  witli  candidates  have 
not  changed  to  meet  them.  The  Candidate  Department  must  deal  not 
only  with  the  young  men  and  young  women  who  offer  themselves 
for  the  work  of  the  Board,  but  in  filling  positions  on  the  mission 
field  the  Candidate  Department  must  search  for  men  and  women 
who  have  these  qualifications  already  and  extend  calls  to  them  for 
such  service,  just  as  any  other  organization  would  have  to  do  when 
they  are  trying  to  fill  vacancies.  When  it  comes  to  selecting  men 
and  women  for  given  positions,  the  approach  of  the  Candidate  De- 
partment (the  selecting  agency)  on  the  one  hand  to  the  Volunteer, 
who  has  presented  himself  to  the  Board  saying,  'T  want  to  become 
one  of  your  missionaries,"  and  on  the  other  hand  to  the  man  in 
the  theological  seminary,  in  the  medical  school,  in  the  pastorate,  or  in 
the  professorship  who  may  be  called  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  mission 
field,  should  be  the  same,  that  is,  a  definite  call  to  fill  the  post. 
There  is,  however,  this  difference  :  a  man  who  has  come  forward  with 
the  offer  of  service,  if  he  have  the  qualifications  to  fill  the  vacancy, 
has  behind  him  already  a  powerful  motive  calling  him  into  this 
work.  The  other  man  may  not  have  come  to  the  point  where  he 
feels  that  it  is  his  duty  to  go  to  the  foreign  mission  field.  This, 
however,  should  not  prevent  the  Candidate  Secretary  from  presenting 
calls  to  specific  work  to  any  men  who  have  the  (lualifications,  for  we 
never  know  how  far  they  have  gone  in  their  thinking  or  what  forces 
have  been  at  work  in  creating  on  their  part  a  sense  of  missionary 
responsibility.  Furthermore,  the  very  proposal  of  the  Candidate 
Secretary  may  be  a  call  of  God  to  a  specific  service. 

h'inally,  this  year  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  needs  as  never 
before  your  help.  For  this  reason:  heretofore  we  have  been  able 
to  get  a  sufficient  number  of  competent  young  men,  who  are  under 
appointment  or  just  about  to  be  under  appointment  to  visit  the 
colleges  and  do  this  work.  Just  now  they  are  all  in  the  army  and 
we  have  not  been  able  to  get  them.  That  throws  us  back  in  a 
larger  degree  than  ever  on  the  Boards  for  your  best  and  ablest 
young  missionaries  who  are  back  from  the  mission  field.  We  must 
have  missionaries  who  can  enter  into  sympathetic  understanding 
with  the  problems  of  the  undergraduate.  The  Boards  must  let  us 
have  some  of  the  brightest  and  best  young  missionaries  now  home 
on  furlough,  for  this  work  in  colleges  and  universities.  And  you 
must  let  us  have  them  without  charge ;  that  is,  the  Board  must 
provide  salary  allowances.  W^e  can  finance  the  traveling  expenses, 
but,  if  you  want  us  to  put  over  a  big  program  such  as  you  have 
indicated  here  as  necessary,  you  must  allocate  these  missionaries 
to  the  Student  Volunteer  work  for  this  next  period  of  six  months. 
During  the  last  two  or  three  years  the  missionaries  home  on  fur- 
lough have  all  come  home  with  plans  for  post  graduate  study  and 
they  do  not  want  to  turn  aside  from  their  period  of  study  and  go 
into    this    traveling   work. 

I  had  a  letter  from  a  man  this  week  whom  I  had  been  in  corre- 
spondence with  about  doing  work  in  the  colleges.  He  is  admirably 
fitted  to  do  Student  Volunteer  work,  but  he  wants  to  go  to  the 
theological  seminary  for  further  study.  In  his  case  it  will  mean 
that  he  must  stay  at  home  an  extra  year  or  six  months,  to  enable 
him  to  do  both  this  recruiting  work  and  the  study  he  feels  necessary. 
Now  I  appeal  to  you  as  tlie  administrative  secretaries  of  our  Boards 

109 


Responsibility  of  Boiirds   in   Securing^  Q,uulifled   Candidates 

looking  to  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  to  do  this  work,  to 
allocate  these  qualified  men  to  the  Student  Volunteer  work  and 
to  provide  their  home  allowances  during  the  period  they  give  to  the 
work.  The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  will  provide  their  travel- 
ing expenses.  We  need  this  help  from  the  Boards  this  year.  We 
have   had   our   difficulties   in    financing   our   work. 

Chairman  Corey:  We  have  come  to  some  very  definite  convictions 
— one  is,  the  need  for  candidates  eclipses  all  other  needs;  (2)  that 
there  are  plenty  of  possible  candidates  for  all  the  foreign  missionary 
boards  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  agencies  if  we  can  only  get  out  and  get  them ; 
(3)  now  is  the  time  to  go  and  find  them;  and  (4)  somehow  we 
must  so  organize  the  work  so  that  we  can  help  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  just  now  to  find  these  recruits. 


lie 


REACHING   AND   TRAINING   MEN    IN   THE 
ARMY    AND    NAVY    FOR    MIS- 
SIONARY SERVICE 

By  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  New  York 

I  am  sorry  not  to  have  heard  what  was  said  this  morning. 
In  discussing  my  part  of  this  general  theme,  perhaps  I  shall 
be  repeating  what  has  been  already  said,  and  I  hope  that  if 
there  is  anything  of  that  sort  the  Chairman  will  not  hesitate  to 
interrupt.  And  yet  a  little  bit  of  repetition  would  be  a  cheap 
price  to  pay  for  our  adequate  appreciation  of  the  gravity  of  the 
issues  that  are  involved  in  the  present  situation.  We  are  deal- 
ing in  this  theme  with  the  field  of  supply  of  leadership  for 
the  Christian  Church  and  its  various  agencies,  for  many,  many 
years  to  come.  In  the  camps,  in  the  armies  abroad,  in  the  uni- 
versities and  colleges  which  have  been  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  War  Department,  we  have  gathered  up  most  of 
the  men  on  whom  we  have  to  rely  for  the  Christian  ministry, 
for  missionary  service,  for  the  various  forms  of  Christian 
activity  in  our  own  land  and  abroad.  We  have  them  also  in 
a  situation  such  as  could  not  have  been  produced  by  us — we 
have  them  physically  congregated,  we  have  them  under  psy- 
chological conditions  which  we  could  never  have  artificially 
produced.  The  situation  presents  an  opportunity  such  as  has 
not  been  in  our  time,  perhaps  in  any  time,  for  recruiting  men 
for  the  service  of  the  Christian  Church. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  convictions  as  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  situation  have  forced  themselves  upon  the  minds 
of  many  men  in  many  different  sections  of  the  Church's  work. 

The  theological  seminaries  of  our  country  felt  the  burden 
some  time  ago  and  they  held  a  meeting,  as  you  know,  at  Cam- 
bridge, attended  by  representatives  of  practically  all  the  theo- 
logical schools  of  the  United  States  and  a  number  of  those  of 
Canada,  to  consider  the  double  question,  first,  as  to  what 
change  in  theological  education  might  be  necessary,  in  view  of 
these  new  conditions,  the  temper  of  the  men  who  were  to  be 
trained  and  the  needs  of  the  times  and  what  could  be  done  to 
supply  provisional  theological  training  to  the  large  number  of 
young  men  withdrawn  from  the  seminaries  and  who  were  to 
be  given  some  kind  of  vocational  training  with  the  rest  of  our 
troops  under  the  plan  of  the  khaki  university  during  the  de- 


Soldiers  nnd  SnilorM   for  Itllssionnry  Service 

mobilization  period  on  the  other  side;  and  second,  there  was 
the  question  of  recruiting  men  for  their  diminished  ranks. 
Where  were  they  going  to  get  the  men  to  make  up  for  these 
empty  entering  classes  of  the  past  year?  And  this  group  of 
men  representing  the  theological  schools  appointed  a  continua- 
tion committee  of  eight  or  ten  of  the  leading  theological  teach- 
ers of  the  country  to  study  these  questions  and  to  relate  them- 
selves to  any  other  groups  that  might  be  acting  in  this  field. 
In  the  second  place,  the  religious  workers  in  the  camps  felt  this 
burden.  Wherever  there  was  an  earnest  and  wide  visioned 
man  in  any  of  the  army  camps  in  the  United  States  he  saw 
this  opportunity  and  he  felt  the  weight  of  this  need.  From 
various  sections  of  the  country  also  there  came  to  the  War 
Work  Council  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  communications  urging  the 
necessity  of  some  form  of  organization  that  would  cope  with 
this  problem  now.  The  Church  Boards  of  Education  of  the 
various  denominations  naturally  felt  their  responsibility.  They 
realized  we  had  the  chance  of  a  century  in  these  young  men 
gathered  in  the  camps  to  recruit  men  for  the  ministry.  Our 
foreign  missionary  agencies  also  realized  the  situation.  The 
Reference  and  Counsel  Committee  took  the  matter  up  some 
time  ago  to  consider  what  ought  to  be  done  in  order  that  we 
might  secure  the  men  needed  for  foreign  missionary  work, 
out  of  these  four  or  five  million  young  men  of  our  nation,  who 
are  now  gathered  in  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States. 
Now  it  was  obvious  at  once  that  something  must  be  done  to 
correlate  these  various  proposals.  Evidently  it  was  a  piece  of 
work  that  none  of  us  could  do  single-handed,  and  in  which,  if 
we  attempted  to  do  it,  we  might  hinder  others  and  frustrate 
our  own  designs.  Accordingly,  through  the  General  War  Time 
Commission  of  the  Churches,  an  agency  brought  into  existence 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Federal  Council  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  to  coordinate  the  war  activities  of  all  the 
Protestant  churches  and  affiliated  religious  agencies,  a  cen- 
tral committee  was  established  to  bring  together  all  these 
different  elements  that  were  approaching  this  common  prob- 
lem. The  committee  was  constituted,  with  Dr.  Ross  Stevenson 
as  its  Chairman,  and  was  divided  into  two  sections,  one  half 
on  training,  with  Dr.  Douglas  Mackenzie  at  the  head  of  it,  and 
the  other  half  on  recruiting,  with  Dr.  Padelford  at  the  head 
of  it.  Request  was  made  to  release  Dr.  Padelford  from  his 
other  work,  so  that  he  might  give  his  time  wholly  as  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  full  Committee  and  as  Chairman  of  the  sub- 
division dealing  with  recruiting.  I  might  go  on  further  to  say 
that  this  Committee  was  made  up  of  elements  representing  all 
these  different  bodies.  It  has  representatives  of  the  Church 
Boards  of  Jiducation,  of  the  Continuation  Committee  of  the 

112 


Soldiers  and  Sailors   for  Missionary  Service 

Theological  Seminary  Conference,  of  the  denominational  War 
Commissions,  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  of  the 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  of  the  great  body  of  negro 
institutions  represented  by  Major  Moton,  the  President  of 
Tuskegee  and  of  the  recruiting  section  of  the  War  Work 
Council  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

As  soon  as  the  Committee  began  to  attempt  its  task  it  was 
apparent  that  there  was  risk  of  duplication  between  the  agen- 
cies of  the  War  Work  Council  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  this 
coordinate  effort  of  all  the  religious  bodies  together.  The 
War  Work  Council  had  the  needed  funds,  and  a  great  body 
of  men  who  could  be  moved  from  one  position  to  another 
and  among  whom  there  were  men  skilled  in  this  work  of  ap- 
proaching young  men.  It  became  necessary  to  tie  all  this  up 
compactly,  so  that  there  would  be  no  risk  of  duplication,  so 
that  under  the  leadership  of  the  churches,  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
bringing  all  its  resources  into  the  task,  we  might  carry  forward 
one  really  adequate  undertaking  to  deal  comprehensively  with 
this  whole  problem  of  the  training  and  recruiting  of  men 
for  all  forms  of  Christian  service  as  these  men  are  now 
ascribed  to  us. 

There  was  included  also  the  chance  to  do  a  still  larger 
thing;  that  is,  to  try  to  bring  home  to  all  these  masses  of  young 
men,  facing  now  a  readjustment  of  their  life  work,  the  con- 
siderations on  the  basis  of  which  a  life  work  should  be  chosen 
and  the  principles  that  should  govern  it.  It  gives  a  chance  to 
put  the  Christian  spirit  into  all  this  work  of  vocational  train- 
ing that  has  been  projected  by  the  Government,  especially  in 
its  work  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea.  But  primarily  what 
we  are  concerned  in  is  our  own  immediate  responsibility. 

Now  it  is  proposed  not  only  to  project  this  work,  but  to 
push  it  through  just  as  rapidly  as  can  be  done.  It  isn't  a 
problem  now,  as  Mr.  Irving  was  saying  the  other  day,  of 
cooperation  so  much  as  it  is  of  operation.  The  problem  is 
to  bring  all  energies  to  bear  in  full  power  against  this  per- 
fectly colossal  task. 

Just  a  word  or  two  regarding  the  section  on  training.  Thus 
far  nothing  is  contemplated  in  the  way  of  any  special  pro- 
vision of  training  for  the  young  men  on  this  side.  But  on  the 
other  side,  Dr.  Mackenzie,  Dr.  Stevenson  and  President 
King  have  all  gone  over,  and  they  are  setting  up  a  training 
school  which  will  provide  theological  instruction  and  training 
for  men  desiring  to  enter  social  service  and  all  kinds  of  Chris- 
tian activity.  Such  provision  will  take  its  place  in  the  general 
scheme  of  educational  facilities  to  be  supplied  in  the  demobili- 
zation time  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.    They  have  written 

113 


Soldiers   and   Sailors   for   missionary   Service 

back  to  ask  that  more  men  be  sent  over,  and  others  will  be 
sent  to  join  with  tliem  in  this  training  work  in  France. 

But  the  more  pressing  task  here  in  this  country,  and  there 
too,  is  the  matter  of  recruiting.  And  her€  the  problem  first 
of  all,  of  course,  is  to  bring  all  the  present  forces  to  bear  on  the 
task.  Those  forces  comprise  the  chaplains  first  of  all.  The 
chaplain  is  attached,  or  li€  has  been  under  our  old  theory — 
he  has  been  attached  to  his  own  unit,  so  that  he  is  permanent 
pastor  of  a  flock  and  he  knows  all  the  men  in  his  own  section 
by  name.  If  the  law  were  fully  obeyed  we  would  have  on€ 
chaplain  to  every  1,200  men.  The  chaplain  goes  with  his  men 
and  he  knows  his  men  as  well  as  any  man  can  where  the  regi- 
ments have  been  in  flux  as  they  have  wath  us  during  the  period 
of  the  war.  The  first  thing  is  to  get  each  chaplain  at  work 
on  the  men  in  his  own  little  flock,  sifting  out  the  individuals 
among  them  who  ought  to  be  directed  to  Christian  service  and 
laying  before  them  the  opportunity  and  the  obligation.  Sec- 
ond, other  religious  workers  in  the  camps.  The  religious  work 
directors  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  camp  pastors  and  volun- 
tary chaplains  are  the  second  force  to  be  relied  upon.  Third, 
the  ministers  in  the  neighborhood  of  camps,  who  have  access 
to  the  camps,  and  by  this  time  have  become  acquainted  with 
their  men.  And  fourth,  the  ministers  at  home,  who  ought  to 
set  up  a  new  touch  with  all  the  lads  from  their  congregations, 
who  have  gone  out  into  the  army  here  or  the  army  abroad, 
and  lay  before  them  now  by  correspondence  the  opportunity 
of  the  new  time  and  the  obligation  under  which  they  are  to  face 
afresh  the  problem  of  the  use  of  their  lives. 

I  say  the  problem  first  of  all,  therefore,  is  to  align  the  exist- 
ing forces,  to  get  the  idea  into  their  minds  as  a  living,  pressing 
idea,  so  that  they  will  at  once  go  to  work,  these  men  who  are 
on  the  ground  now,  dealing  with  the  men  whom  they  know. 

We  are  attempting  this  by  correspondence.  Dr.  Padelford 
and  Mr.  Irving  have  sent  out  letters  to  all  these  chaplains  and 
camp  workers  all  over  the  land.  There  are  in  session  to-day 
the  departmental  religious  work  directors  of  all  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  Association  work  in  the  army  here  in  the  United  States 
and  they  are  carrying  this  undertaking  right  back  into  their 
own  sections,  with  a  view  to  seeing  that  the  present  workers 
realize  the  need  and  the  other  right  men  are  put  in  the  camps 
where  men  are  needed. 

In  the  next  place  a  new  literature  is  being  provided  to  meet 
this  need.  We  are  using  President  Wilson's  pamphlet  on  the 
Christian  minister  and  his  place  in  the  community,  George  A. 
Gordon's  pamphlet  on  the  a])i)eal  of  the  ministry  to  strong  men, 
an  address  by  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown  on  foreign  missions  and 
world  reconstruction,  a  paper  by  Rev.  Charles  W.  Gilkey  of 

114 


SoIdiertD  uuil   Sailors   for   MisKiontiry   Service 

Chicago  on  the  principles  which  should  govern  the  choice  of  a 
life  work,  and  other  little  pamphlets  on  the  soldiers  and  foreign 
missions.  Dr.  C.  H.  P'atton  has  written  a  book  which  is  likely 
to  be  used  in  connection  with  Mr.  J.  L.  Murray's  book  in 
bringing  home  in  fresh  ways  the  whole  missionary  appeal  to 
the  minds  of  this  host  of  four  or  five  million  men  who  are 
available  to  us  to-day  for  our  field  of  cultivation,  and  Dr.  J.  H. 
Jowett's  and  Dr.  Henry  Sloan  Coffin's  books  on  preaching  will 
be  supplied. 

In  the  third  place  it  is  proposed  to  add  to  the  forces  now  at 
work  just  as  many  men  as  can  be  gotten  who  are  adecjuate  to 
undertake  this  task.  There  are  a  great  many  who  have  great 
skill  in  so  presenting  the  claims  of  the  ministry  that  no  young 
men  will  respond  and  that  young  men  who  had  intended  to 
enter  the  ministry  would  be  likely  to  turn  away.  We  must 
head  those  men  off  from  presenting  the  claims  of  the  ministry 
to  men  in  the  camps.  The  thing  that  has  to  be  done  is  to  find 
a  few  men,  who  can  with  efficiency  and  persuasion  present 
the  claims  of  the  ministry  at  home  and  of  foreign  missions  upon 
the  lives  and  the  strength  of  these  young  men  in  the  camps. 
Mr.  Dutton,  who  has  charge  of  the  war  religious  work  in  the 
eastern  district  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  could  use  between  one  and 
two  hundred  men  at  once  if  they  were  available  to  add  to  the 
forces  in  the  camps  now  and  for  weeks  to  come  present  the 
claims  of  the  ministry  and  missionary  work. 

In  the  fourth  place  we  hope  to  be  able  to  get  up  a  number 
of  missionary  exhibits  and  to  send  them  with  a  fresh  supply 
of  missionary  books  into  the  camps.  There  are  missionary 
books  already  in  the  library  supplied  by  the  American  Library 
Association,  but  that  number  ought  to  be  increased.  The  in- 
teresting thing  is  that  a  large  call  is  coming  in  from  the  camps 
for  these  books  and  for  missionary  magazines. 

There  are  those  who  say  that  the  opportunity  is  not  as  hope- 
ful as  I  have  said.  They  say  we  have  exaggerated  the  oppor- 
tunity that  is  presented  in  the  camps.  Many  of  you  have  talked 
with  men  who  have  had  much  experience  on  the  other  side 
and  here  who  take  this  view.  They  say  that  th-ere  has  come 
a  moral  relaxation  in  the  camps  that  is  unfavorable  for  this 
appeal ;  that  we  haven't  now  the  old  concentration  of  mind  and 
intensity  of  purpose  that  we  had  before  the  armistice,  which 
is  perfectly  true — and  that,  therefore,  we  haven't  as  hopeful  an 
attitude  of  mind  as  has  been  represented.  It  is  said  it  is  a 
very  heterogeneous  lot  we  have  to  deal  with,  that  there  are 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  illiterate  men.  It  is  urged  that  we 
may  cheapen  and  weaken  and  even  destroy  the  sincere  ap- 
peal by  addressing  it  to  a  great  multitude  of  men  who  have  no 
appreciation  of  it.     It  is  said  that  it  is  an  irresponsible  crowd 

I  IS 


Soldiers   and   Sailors   for   Missionary   Service 

that  we  have  in  the  camps,  taught  to  obey  orders  en  masse, 
that  we  haven't  the  same  kind  of  mind  to  appeal  to  that  we 
have  in  normal  times  when  the  individual  stands  on  his  own 
feet  and  thinks  for  himself.  We  all  know  instances  that  could 
be  cited  to-day  of  the  mass  movement  of  men's  minds  in  the 
camps.  Any  mass  response  has  to  be  scrutinized  in  the  army 
because  the  army  is  trained  to  work  together.  And  there  is 
a  gr-eat  peril  that  has  got  to  he  guarded  against  precisely  here 
in  any  recruiting  work  that  is  being  done.  It  is  urged  also 
that  just  now  there  has  come  a  time  of  great  mental  diversion 
and  inaccessibility  to  serious  things. 

But  for  every  voice  that  says  these  things  one  can  produce 
a  dozen  voices  to  say  just  the  other  things :  that  we  have  an 
opportunity  now,  physically  and  psychologically,  for  recruit- 
ing men  such  as  we  have  never  had.  We  have  still  the  ideal- 
isms of  war  that  haven't  altogether  flitted  out  of  men's  minds. 
They  have  felt  a  call  to  great  and  splendid  purpose,  and  that 
hasn't  subsided  yet.  We  have  that  to  build  on  in  all  these 
camps  to-day  and  we  have  a  great  deal  to  answer  for  if  we 
don't  use  this  chance  wisely  to-day.  Again,  there  has  been  a 
dislocation  of  men  from  their  old  associations  and  life  plans. 
There  are  thousands  of  men  who  have  gone  into  the  camps 
who  had  callings  before,  who  are  not  going  back  to  those  call- 
ings— there  are  ministers  who  are  not  going  back  to  their  min- 
istry, doctors  who  are  not  going  back  to  their  old  methods 
of  practising  their  profession,  and  there  are  hundreds  of  busi- 
ness men  who  have  seen  a  new  light  and  a  rich  vision  and  who 
are  open  now  to  a  new  call.  There  has  been  the  widening  of 
interest  and  of  duty.  There  have  been  two  things  that  have 
dominated  the  spirit  of  the  young  men  in  the  army,  that  made 
them  what  they  were  before  the  armistice  was  signed :  One 
was  the  power  and  the  passion  of  a  great  purpose.  They  really 
believed  that  they  were  fighting  for  the  salvation  of  the  world ; 
they  really  believed,  tens  of  thousands  of  them,  that  they  were 
fighting  for  the  sanctity  of  their  homes;  that  if.  they  didn't 
carry  this  war  through  the  same  thing  might  happen  here  in 
the  United  States  that  happened  in  Belgium  and  Northern 
France.  Here  were  literally  millions  of  young  men  who  were 
inspired  as  they  never  had  been  inspired  in  their  lives  before 
by  a  great  and  engrossing  and  commanding  purpose.  And 
secondly  there  was  the  weight  of  an  adequate  obligation. 
They  were  thinking  of  the  world.  Boys  who  had  grown  up  in 
little  country  villages  and  coves  out  in  the  mountains  began 
to  think  of  the  world.  I  was  at  my  old  home  in  Pennsylvania, 
when  one  of  the  draft  quotas  was  brought  in.  There  were 
boys  who  had  scarcely  ever  been  out  of  the  township  where 
they  were  born.     It  was  a  new  experience  for  them  all  to  be 

ii6 


.S«»l«liers  and  Sailors   for  l^lissionary  Service 

brought  together,  and  now  they  were  thinking  of  France  and 
far  awa}-.  And  I  have  been  reading  in  the  home  papers  also 
letters  that  those  boys  have  been  writing  home  from  France. 
They  have  seen  a  world  they  didn't  know  anything  about  be- 
fore. They  had  come  to  bear  the  weight  of  a  world  burden. 
Now  we  have  in  foreign  missions  the  two  things  that  will 
replace  these  two  things  that  are  slipping  away.  Their  great 
purpose  has  been  fulfilled  and  the  weight  is  lifted.  They  will 
shrivel  again  into  provincial  Americans  unless  they  can  be 
given  a  new  task — such  as  the  Church  can  give. 

There  is  need  of  this  recruiting  work  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  Church.  Where  are  we  going  for  our  recruits  for 
the  future  except  here  ?  There  are  young  men  in  the  com- 
munity who  didn't  go  into  the  army  of  course,  and  we  must 
do  what  we  can  to  reach  them,  but  the  great  bulk  of  the  young 
men  on  whom  we  must  rely  are  among  these  five  million  young 
Americans  who  have  been  enlisted  in  the  army  and  the  navy. 
If  we  want  recruits  for  the  ministry  and  for  foreign  missions 
for  the  next  thirty  years,  we  must  go  there  to  get  them.  And 
these  young  men,  as  I  said  a  moment  ago,  need  this  purpose 
and  this  world  weight  that  the  missionary  idea  and  the  concep- 
tion of  Christian  service  alone  can  provide. 

They  need  it  in  all  the  three  fields  where  we  must  now  go 
after  them.  They  need  it  in  our  camps  here  in  the  United 
States.  I  have  a  letter  in  my  pocket  from  one  of  the  men  at 
Camp  Devens  about  the  thousands  of  men  in  that  camp  to 
whom  they  wanted  this  call  presented.  He  says  that  what 
got  these  men  for  the  army  was  the  task,  it  was  setting  before 
them  the  colossal  task,  the  winning  of  the  war  to  defeat  Ger- 
many. An  adequate  task  appealed  to  them  and  they  responded 
to  that  task.  Now  we  have  got  to  substitute  for  that  task 
an  equivalent  one  and  the  Church  alone  has  the  full  equivalent 
to  substitute,  the  idea  that  just  as  we  fought  in  the  war  to  make 
possible  a  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world,  so  we  should  go 
on  now  and  establish  that  Kingdom  in  the  world. 

We  have  a  unique  opportunity  for  doing  this  in  the  home 
camps.  There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  saddened  men 
in  the  United  States  camps  to-day ;  they  are  reluctant  to  go 
home,  some  of  them,  because  they  will  be  asked,  "What  battle 
did  you  fight  in  ?  Tell  us  something  about  France" — and  they 
will  have  to  acknowledge  that  they  never  got  there.  Now,  the 
only  thing  for  us  to  do  for  those  men  is  to  show  them  that 
they  don't  need  to  feel  disappointed  and  chagrined  because 
they  did  not  have  a  chance  to  go  to  France  and  fight,  but  that 
they  still  have  their  chance  in  a  far  more  difficult  task  than 
the  task  of  war,  a  task  that  calls  for  equal  courage  and  hero- 
ism, a  task  that  lays  more  exactions  on  men,  a  task  in  which 

117 


Soldiers   aud   Siiilors   for    IVIissionary   Service 

there  will  be  need  of  the  daring  of  soul  that  the  man  has  to 
have  who  is  not  held  up  by  the  great  crowd  going  his  way, 
but  who  has  to  stand  alone  with  only  truth  and  invisible 
resources  behind  him.  I  say  we  have  a  chance  to  meet  the 
need  of  thousands  of  these  young  men  in  our  camps  in  the 
United  States,  who  want  a  great  purpose  given  to  them  in 
exchange  for  the  old  purpose  and  who  want  a  great  cause  that 
will  lift  them  out  of  chagrin  and  disappointment. 

In  the  same  way  we  need  this  kind  of  thing  over  on  the  other 
side.  General  March  now  says  we  are  to  keep  over  there  for  a 
long  time  a  million  and  a  quarter  men.  We  have  our  work  to 
do  among  them,  and  how  great  that  opportunity  is.  To  show 
you  how  much  the  men  over  there  realize  the  need,  let  me 
read  a  paragraph  or  two  from  a  letter  that  came  on  Monday 
from  Dr.  Bovaird- — he  is  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bovaird  now,  in 
charge  of  a  hospital  in  France.  He  is  writing  on  the  day 
after  the  armistice  was  signed,  and  the  first  paragraph  reflects 
all  the  feelings  of  that  day,  and  then  he  goes  on : 

With  the  end  of  the  war  and  the  actual  signing  of  the  peace 
compacts,  which  is  surely  not  far  off,  all  the  millions  of  men  in 
our  armies  will  be  sooner  or  later  returned  to  the  homeland  to 
face  the  problem  of  their  future  employment  or  activities.  Among 
them  will  be  some  thousands  of  medical  men.  Most  of  these  men  will 
return  with  their  old  positions  and  practices  calling  for  them,  but  still 
foot-loose.  Many  of  them,  and  especially  the  younger  ones,  will  come 
back  to  begin  life  entirely  anew,  free  as  no  like  body  of  medical  men 
have  ever  been  in  choosing  the  field  of  their  activities.  All  of  them 
will  return  with  wider  views  of  life  and  with  possibilities  of  their 
work  than  have  heretofore  been  common  among  medical  men.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  world  will  be  open  as  a  field  for  the  efforts 
of   these  men. 

You  know  how  many  places  have  been  waiting  for  the  end  of  the 
war  to  release  the  medical  men  they  are  in  need  of.  The  question  of 
interest  to  us  is  how  many  of  them  can  be  enlisted  in  the  missionary 
service,  how  many  the  missionary  societies  are  prepared  to  receive 
and  employ. 

I  know  well  that  the  problem  of  the  extent  and  character  of  the 
medical  work  that  could  properly  be  made  part  of  the  missionary  effort 
has  long  been  the  subject  of  much  study  and  consideration  on  your 
part.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  calls  for  definite  decisions  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  the  future  of  missions  at  this  time.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  if  the  Church  is  ready  to  go  forward,  there  is  an  opportunity  the 
like  of  which  will  never  within  our  lifetime  come  again.  Never  again 
will  there  be  so  many  men,  peculiarly  fitted  by  their  experience  to  listen 
to  the  call  to  world-wide  service  and  also  qualified  by  their  experience 
to  meet  the  call  with  unusual  ability.  The  question  the  Church  must 
face  is  how  far  it  is  prepared  to  go  in  enlisting  medical  men  for  work 
in  foreign  fields  and  also  what  scope  it  will  seek  to  give  to  the  men  it 
secures. 

The  rest  of  the  letter  deals  with  the  readiness  of  the  Church 
to  project  forms  of  missionary  drive  which  will  use  these  men 

ii8 


Soldiers   and   Sailors   for   Missionary   Service 

and  with  our  opportunity  to  help  clean  up  the  world  when 
this  war  goes  by.  He  is  speaking  only  of  the  opportunity  that 
there  is  among  the  thousands  of  doctors  who  are  over  on 
the  other  side.  Think  of  how  many  other  groups  there  are 
over  there,  several  thousand  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries,  thou- 
sands and  thousands  of  young  men  in  the  army  who  went 
out  of  our  colleges,  who  are  there  in  a  spirit  open  to  this 
appeal  as  no  group  that  we  have  ever  known. 

And,  third,  there  is  the  group  of  the  S.  A.  T.  C.  here  in  the 
United  States,  and  that  is  almost  the  most  pressing  and  urgent 
of  all.  I  was  at  Princeton  last  Sunday,  just  the  day  before 
the  dissolution  of  the  S.  A.  T.  C.  at  Princeton.  On  Monday 
tliey  were  to  turn  in  their  guns  and  all  their  uniforms,  save  one 
that  they  could  keep  and  wear  for  three  months.  I  was  at 
Princeton  on  Sunday,  the  day  immediately  after  the  United 
States  entered  the  war.  I  was  there  last  Sunday,  the  day  be- 
fore those  boys  came  out  of  the  war.  I  never  have  seen  men 
in  more  solemn  mood  than  in  Princeton  on  these  two  days. 
If  there  are  any  of  you  who  have  not  been  in  any  of  our  uni- 
versities to  witness  a  breaking  of  the  S.  A.  T.  C.  you  ought 
to  go.  You  haven't  any  idea  of  the  psychology  of  the  situation 
unless  you  actually  have  seen  it.  There  is  a  hungry  groping 
after  some  great  purpose  that  will  take  the  place  o'f  the  pur- 
pose gone,  that  will  fill  up  this  great  gap  of  the  died-out  glory 
— why,  we  have  a  chance  in  the  universities  of  the  land  to-day 
equal  to  any  that  we  ever  have  had.  All  the  heat  of  those 
first  days  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  thirty  years  ■ 
ago  has  been  running  in  my  blood  since  last  Sunday.  I  cannot 
imagine  a  greater  opportunity  for  a  man,  for  the  next  few 
weeks,  than  in  the  colleges  and  universities  of  this  country. 
All  these  S.  A.  T.  C.s  are  to  be  disintegrated  before  the  holi- 
days. Thousands  of  these  boys  will  drift  out  of  the  colleges 
between  Christmas  and  New  Year's  and  then  the  colleges  will 
start  anew  the  first  week  in  January.  The  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  ought  to  have  fifty  secretaries  ready  to  travel  this 
land  from  sea  to  sea.  The  old  hindrances  that  sprang  from  the 
military  situation  are  gone  now,  and  we  have  left  a  great  open 
field.  There  are  great  streams  of  life  wandering  out  now — 
wdio  is  going  to  gather  them  in  and  give  them  their  direction  ? 
Thus  is  offered  to  the  Church  a  great  plastic  mass  of  spirit 
in  our  colleges  and  universities  to  stamp  for  the  highest  and 
holiest  purposes. 

And  now,  lastly,  what  can  we  do  who  are  gathered  here? 
There  are  some  things  that  we  who  represent  the  mission 
boards  ought  to  do  at  once.  Dr.  F.  W.  Padelford  has  been 
getting  in  communication  with  every  one  of  our  boards,  and 
is  asking  us  to  release  the  best  missionaries  to  do  this  kind 

119 


Soldiers   and   Snilur.s   for   MiMsioniiry   Service 

of  work.  I  think  we  ought  to  give  this  the  first  claim.  The 
best  men,v/e  have  to  present  the  cause  of  missions  to  young 
men,  the  best  men  to  present  missions  as  a  life  work,  we 
ought  to  put  now  at  the  disposal  of  this  committee  on  recruit- 
ing, which  represents  us  all,  and  which  has  the  resources  to  do 
this  work  and  see  how  powerful  an  impact  we  can  make  with 
these  forces.  We  can  stir  up  our  own  ministers,  the  men  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  camps,  the  pastors  in  the  home 
churches  from  which  the  lads  went  out,  and  urge  them  im- 
mediately to  begin  correspondence  with  their  boys  who  are 
ofif  in  the  camps  or  on  the  other  side,  if  they  haven't  done  so, 
with  regard  to  what  they  are  going  to  do  now  that  the  war  is 
over.  There  is  many  a  lad  for  whom  that  will  be  the  most 
efficient  method  of  approach.  Next,  we  ought  ourselves  to 
begin  correspondence  with  the  chaplains.  It  would  be  a  good 
thing  if  every  foreign  mission  board  could  get  a  list  of  the 
chaplains  of  that  denomination — it  can  be  supplied,  the  General 
Wartime  Commission  of  the  Churches  will  be  happy  to  supply 
it — and  where  they  are,  and  then  if  each  mission  board  could 
write  to  those  chaplains,  supplying  those  chaplains  with  a 
clear  statement  of  what  we  want  now  and  for  years  to  come, 
those  men  may  be  able  to  gather  up  for  us  this  year  some  of 
the  men  we  want  to  send  out  next  fall,  or  they  will  be  able 
to  get  us  the  men  needed  two,  three  or  four  years  from  now, 
especially  three  years  from  now,  when,  unless' something  is 
done,  our  seminaries  will  be  closing  with  no  graduating  classes. 
x\nd  especially  wherever  we  have  got  any  candidates  that  we 
know  of,  any  student  volunteers  in  the  army  now,  or  where 
there  are  any  Christian  officers  that  we  know,  we  ought  to  cor- 
respond with  them,  from  our  candidate  departments,  letting 
them  know  what  we  want  and  setting  them  at  work.  The 
saddest  thing  about  this  war  from  many  points  of  view  has 
been  the  feebleness  of  spontaneous  religion  in  America.  We 
have  not  been  able  to  depend  for  the  Christian  work  in  the 
army  upon  the  mass  of  Christian  men  in  the  army.  There 
were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  them  in  the  army — officers, 
privates,  who  had  come  right  out  of  our  own  churches.  Why, 
one  would  say  from  one  point  of  view,  "What  need  do  you 
have  for  chaplains  or  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  you  have  millions  of  Chris- 
tian men  in  the  army,  and  they  are  the  men  to  do  it."  I  say 
the  sad  thing  has  been  to  see  how  little  we  can  rely  upon  the 
spontaneous  energies  of  the  Christian  life  of  the  nation — and 
we  cannot  rely  on  it  adequately  here.  Everything  we  can  do 
to  stir  the  men  whom  we  know,  candidates  or  volunteers  or 
Christians,  in  the  army  to  reach  their  fellows,  in  behalf  of  the 
Christian  service  and  the  ministry  we  ought  to  do. 

Now  my  friends,  the  time  is  veiy  short.     I  doubt  whether 


Soldiers  and  Sailors  for  Missionary  Service 

we  were  ever  given  so  short  a  time  to  do  a  big  piece  of  work 
as  this.  We  ought  to  have  foreseen  this  long  ago  and  been 
ready  for  it.  Of  course,  there  are  just  excuses.  Nobody  had 
any  idea  that  the  S.  A.  T.  C.  were  going  to  be  dissolved  in 
December.  We  all  thought  they  would  last  through  the  year. 
Nobody  had  any  idea  that  the  war  was  going  to  end  in  Novem- 
ber. Nobody  could  have  foreseen  that  the  end  was  coming, 
and  we  are  not  to  be  reproached  that  we  have  not  been  more 
ready  than  we  are.  It  is  easier  to  get  ready  for  war  than  it 
is  to  get  ready  for  peace,  and  the  tasks  of  peace  are  more 
difficult  than  the  tasks  of  war.  But  now  we  have  got  our 
hour,  a  great  open  hour.  How  long  it  is  going  to  last  no 
man  can  say.  It  may  be  only  a  few  weeks,  in  the  colleges 
and  universities,  before  this  has  passed  by.  We  know  it  is 
going  to  last  for  some  months,  it  may  be  nine  montlis  or  a  year 
or  more,  in  the  army,  though  in  a  diminishing  measure.  We 
have  our  chance.  And  now,  while  the  day  lasts,  we  ought 
to  seize  this  chance.  There  are  a  great  many  other  things 
that  we  can  afford  to  postpone,  but  this  we  cannot  afford  to 
postpone. 

DISCUSSION 

Dr.  F.  W.  Padelford:  In  view  of  what  Dr.  Speer  has  said  it  is 
not  necessary  for  me  to  say  very  much.  If  this  work  in  the  camps  is 
going  to  be  done,  we  shall  have  to  have  assistance  of  a  large  number 
of  men,  and  those  men  will  have  to  be  supplied  through  the  pastors 
of  our  churches  and  the  mission  boards.  As  Dr.  Speer  said,  we  have 
been  trying  to  get  in  touch  with  the  mission  boards  to  see  if  we  could 
secure  these  helpers.  I  tried  to  get  in  touch  with  them  first  by  letter 
and  I  found  that  was  absolutely  useless  because  of  the  secretaries  that 
I  wrote  to,  some  of  them  wrote  back  that  the  work  could  not  be  done, 
that  it  was  not  worth  the  attempt.  Therefore  I  have  had  to  go  around 
from  one  board  to  another  to  present  this  work  personally.  I  would, 
like  to  have  this  opportunity  of  saying  to  you  here,  that  if  we  are 
going  to  do  this  thing  successfully,  we  simply  must  have  the  help  of 
your  secretaries  and  of  your  missionaries  and  have  them  just  as  large 
as  possible  right  now.  I  have  been  trying  to  get  a  list  of  men  who 
might  work  here  in  the  eastern  district.  As  Dr.  Speer  said,  we  could 
use  a  hundred  men  right  now,  and  I  have  only  a  dozen  men  as  yet 
who  can  take  this  work  in  the  eastern  district,  and  there  is  the  great 
central  and  south  district  that  has  to  be  handled  at  the  same  time. 
May  I  make  this  personal  appeal,  therefore,  to  these  missionary  secre- 
taries, that  you  will  designate  to  us  as  quickly  as  you  can  some  of 
the  men  who  can  really  touch  men,  some  of  the  men  who  are  home  on 
furlough. 

I  wish  also  io  emphasize  strongly  another  word  of  Dr.  Speer's.  A 
large  number  of  these  men  are  going  home  right  away,  and  the  question 
in  their  minds  is,  "What  am  I  going  to  do?"  If  we  could  get  the  ear 
of  the  pastors  throughout  the  country  we  could  get  them  interested 
in  the  proposition,  but  a  commission  like  ours  does  not  get  very  much 
chance  with  the  pastors.  I  wrote  to  one  of  the  boards  the  other 
day  asking  for  a  list  of  the  pastors  around  the  camps,  and  the  secre- 

12J 


Soldiers   aud   Sailur.s   for   3Iis.sionary   Sevx  ice 

tary  said,  "Do  you  really  want  them?  I  know  that  would  be  a  lot 
of  work  on  our  part,  and  I  don't  believe  we  want  to  do  it."  If  your 
boards  would  only  send  a  letter  to  your  pastors  all  over  the  country 
and  call  their  attention  to  this  opportunity  and  ask  them  to  help  us, 
I  believe  we  could  land  some  of  these  men  who  are  otherwise  going 
to  slip  away  from  us.  This  committee  represents  you,  and  I  have 
come  here  this  afternoon  to  ask  for  your  help,  and  ask  your  help  right 
now.  I  can  be  addressed  over  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Building  here  in 
this  city,  if  you  will  drop  me  a  line.  F.  W.  Padelford,  Fifth  Avenue 
Building,  here  in  New  York. 


I?2 


MISCELLANEOUS 

These  miscellaneovis  papers  bearing  on  the  candidate  prob- 
lem have  been  included  in  this  volume  by  request  so  that  they 
may  be  readily  accessible  to  those  w^ho  are  studying  this 
subject. 


A  REVIEW  OF  WHAT   HAS   BEEN   ACCOM- 
PLISHED BY  THE  BOARD  OF  MIS- 
SIONARY PREPARATION  ' 

By  President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D.,  Chairman 

This  is  the  sixth  time  on  which  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  appears  before  this  Conference  to  report  on  its 
work.  We  are  very  grateful  indeed  for  the  extended  program 
which  is  made  possible  by  the  time  allowed  us  at  this  Con- 
ference. I  would  like  to  say  a  few  words  in  review  of  what 
has  been  done,  and  then  give  way  to  those  who  will  lay  before 
you  the  results  of  our  more  recent  labors. 

In  this  sixth  annual  report  we  might  well  summarize  the 
labors  of  the  past,  and  make  clear  to  ourselves  what  are  the 
actual  problems  that  lie  immediately  before  us ;  and  I  speak 
of  us,  not  as  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  but  as 
the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America.  None 
of  you  will  ever  forget,  I  hope,  that  this  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  although  it  has  such  a  distinctive  name,  is  the 
offspring  of  this  Conference ;  that  you  appoint  us  and  finance 
us,  and  that  we  are  responsible  to  you.  And  what  I  want  to 
find  out  to-day  is  whether  our  findings,  our  conclusions,  our 
proposals,  lie  upon  the  conscience  of  the  Conference ;  whether 
the  Conference  has  been  indulging  in  a  luxurious  aside  in 
appointing  such  a  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  or  whether 
this  Conference  feels  that  this  is  part  of  its  work  to  which 
as  a  conference  it  stands  committed ;  and  I  think  I  am  speak- 
ing for  the  whole  Board  when  I  say  we  would  like  to  know 
how  far  that  committal  goes. 

The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  at  its  start  decided 
that  it  had  nothing  to  do,  for  some  time,  at  any  rate,  with 
institutions,  whether  administrative,  educational  or  otherwise. 
It  thought  that  its  first  task  must  be  to  explore  the  field 
assigned  to  it ;  that  exploration  has  reached  a  climax  this 
year,  of  which  you  will  be  hearing  in  a  little  while. 

First  of  all,  the  Board  explored  so  far  as  to  discuss  the 
various  kinds  of  missionary  that  have  to  be  prepared  for  the 
foreign  field.  For  its  second  series  of  reports  it  appointed 
committees  to  investigate  the  methods  of  preparation  that 
are  required  for  the  different  types  of  missionaries  that  are 

>  An  address  given  at  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  in  January,   1918. 

124 


Dottrd   ot   Missionary   Preparation   Results 

employed  by  the  boards  all  over  the  world.  The  third  endeavor 
was  a  series  of  investigations  into  the  different  fields  of  the 
world  in  so  far  as  that  investigation  would  throw  light  upon 
the  question  of  preparation, — how  to  prepare  for  China,  for 
India,  for  Africa.  And  then  the  last  series  was  the  study  of 
the  different  religions  of  the  world  in  order  to  discover  how 
men  and  women  may  be  prepared  to  take  the  Gospel  to  those 
who  are  under  the  sway  of  those  religions.  Now,  that  is  a 
great  program  of  work  that  has  been  done,  with  the  assistance 
of  hundreds  of  men  and  women  all  over  the  world,  by  the 
successive  committees  appointed  under  this  Board,  and  which 
is  now  embodied  or  about  to  be  completely  embodied  in  printed 
reports.  It  is  only  just  to  say  that  Mr.  Turner  and  Dr. 
Sanders  have  done  the  wheel-horse  work  in  this  from  the 
beginning,  and  we  have  been  most  fortunate  as  a  Board,  and 
you  as  a  conference  of  foreign  boards,  in  having  men  like 
that,  whose  past  training,  scholarship,  equipment  and  inter- 
est fitted  them  to  map  out,  and  whose  energy  enabled  them 
to  carry  through  this  extensive  program.  I  do  not  think 
that  anywhere  there  exists  a  body  of  literature  on  this  specific 
subject  of  the  preparation  of  the  missionary  equal  to  that 
which  this  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  has  now  printed, 
or  is  about  to  complete. 

In  addition  to  that,  we  have  held  a  series  of  conferences 
with  those  responsible  for  the  preparation  of  people  for  dif- 
ferent callings.  We  had  a  conference  of  theological  semi- 
naries and  colleges,  to  discuss  the  theological  preparation  of 
missionaries;  of  leaders  in  women's  work,  to  study  the  prepa- 
ration of  women  for  their  fields  of  labor;  of  educators,  spe- 
cialists in  the  field  of  training  for  educational  careers,  to  find 
out  what  they  could  contribute  to  our  knowledge ;  and  we 
have  had  a  conference  of  medical  men,  to  consider  the  prepa- 
ration of  medical  missionaries  for  their  career.  The  reports 
of  all  these  conferences  have  been  embodied  in  our  annual 
volumes. 

Now,  what  is  the  result  of  this  series  of  conferences  and 
reports?  What  is  the  next  thing  we  must  expect  as  the 
result  of  the  labors  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation? 

Am  I  right  in  saying  that  those  who  have  studied  in  any 
measure  these  successive  reports  and  understand  the  breadth 
and  significance  of  the  work  of  this  Board,  are  convinced  that 
there  is  imperative  necessity  for  a  more  severe,  a  more  care- 
fully considered,  and  a  more  prolonged  training  of  the  mis- 
sionary? Is  it  not  proved  that  for  a  Hfe  work  which  is  in 
these  reports  proved  to  be  so  difficult,  so  intricate,  so  respon- 
■sible,  a  much  longer  time  of  preparation  is  required? 

When  one  thinks  of  what  people  are  going  through  in  order 

125 


Board   of   Missionary   Preparation   Results 

to  prepare  for  work  in  the  medical  world,  or  in  the  legal  world, 
and  then  remembers  what  is  implied  in  carrying  Christianity 
to  the  Hindus  or  the  Chinese  or  the  Japanese,  or  the  Africans, 
I  am  appalled  at  the  fact  that  we  should  be  unwilling  to  con- 
sider more  than  two  and  a  half  years  of  special  preparation  in 
a  theological  seminary  (we  gloss  over  the  littleness  of  it  by 
saying  three  years  ;  it  is  only  two  and  a  half  years  at  the 
best)  and  that  we  should  be  content  to  send  out  a  great  many 
other  workers  into  the  field  who  have  had  far  less  than  two 
and  a  half  years  of  specific  preparation,  for  so  tremendous 
an  undertaking.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  undertak- 
ing in  the  world  so  great  as  this,  making  such  demands  on 
th'C  discipline  of  the  mind,  on  the  culture  of  the  moral  nature, 
that  really  is  carried  on  so  small  a  basis  of  educational  prepa- 
ration. That  is  a  very  heavy  indictment,  I  know,  against  our 
present  methods.  I  believe  that  our  reports  have  only  to  be 
read  intelligently  and  by  a  fair  mind  to  bring  that  fact  home 
to  every  man  or  women  who  reads  them. 

We  have  now  a  wider  and  deeper  view  of  the  work  of  the 
missionary.  We  have  a  work  that  reaches  out  into  every 
part  of  the  life  of  the  communities  in  which  our  missionaries 
ar€  laboring,  and  we  have  a  situation  created  in  which  the 
conditions  of  the  field  are  undergoing  alterations  at  an  increas- 
ingly rapid  rate.  All  over  the  world  progress  is  being  made 
with  great  swiftness.  Who  could  have  imagined  when  our 
first  missionaries  went  to  Japan,  at  the  opening  of  that  empire 
to  western  civilization,  that  in  the  year  1918  we  should  be 
receiving,  as  I  received  in  Hartford  the  other  day,  a  group 
of  Japanese  headed  by  a  brigadier-general  who  are  going  over 
to  France  as  Christian  leaders  to  find  out  if  they  can  be  of  any 
service  to  the  British  and  Americans  in  the  conduct  of  the 
moral  and  religious  welfare  of  their  armies  in  Europe?  Who 
could  have  dreamed  in  1870  that  that  would  have  been  pos- 
sible to-day?  I  spoke  with  that  General,  introduced  him  to 
the  Governor  of  Connecticut,  so  as  to  show  him  all  the  cour- 
tesies within  my  small  reach,  and  was  proud  of  the  fact  that 
a  general  of  the  Japanese  army  had  actually  come  with  cre- 
dentials from  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  Japan, 
with  his  son  and  two  other  companions  on  an  errand  like 
that;  and  I  thought  to  myself.  Well,  now,  what  are  we  doing 
or  what  are  we  going  to  do  in  the  preparation  of  the  men  and 
women  who  are  to  labor  in  Japan  among  people  like  our 
visitors? 

When  one  remembers  how  ra[)idly  the  universities  in  Japan 
have  developed  since  the  government  established  its  imperial 
university  at  Tokyo;  how  rapidly  things  will  go  in  China 
pnce  China  is  awake  and  creates  her  own  national  system  of 

126 


Boni'd    «(f    Missionary    Proii:ir:i(ion    KeMiilt.s 

education ;  when  one  remembers  the  educational  problems  that 
obtain  in  India,  that  have  been  hampering  the  educational  work 
of  our  missionaries  there  for  two  or  three  generations ;  how 
rapidly  in  Africa  the  governments  will  have  things  worked 
out  as  they  take  hold  of  the  education  of  the  natives — we  may 
find  we  ar€  running  behind  and  trying  to  catch  our  breath  to 
keep  within  sight  of  the  education  of  the  Negro  in  Africa — 
I  say  what  are  we  doing  to  prepare  young  men  and  women 
adequately  to  meet  that  situation? 

Everywhere  •else  intellectual  training  is  becoming  more 
severe  and  prolonged.  The  result  of  the  war  is  going  to 
increase  the  demand  for  severe  education.  The  days  of  easy- 
going preparation  for  life  at  home  are  in  America  very  nearly 
coming  to  an  end.  It  will  not  be  possible  very  much  longer 
to  find  young  men  of  twenty-one  approaching  the  end  of  their 
college  course  without  the  least  idea  of  what  they  are  going 
to  do  in  life  after  they  get  through  the  senior  year.  We  are 
getting  past  that  stage.  We  are  going  to  be  forced  to  begin 
the  training  of  young  men  and  women  earlier  for  specific 
careers.  The  whole  tendency  of  pedagogical  investigation  is 
leading  up  to  that.  And  now  the  history  of  the  world  is  going 
to  force  America  to  begin  the  training  of  its  young  men  and 
women  for  specific  careers,  and  to  train  them  more  severely 
than  they  have  ever  been  trained  for  anything  except  in  the 
best  and  highest  of  our  institutions  of  learning — train  them 
for  whatever  lies  before  them.  The  missionary  must  be  in- 
cluded in  that  program  of  the  new  world. 

Moreover,  another  result  of  our  reports  is  the  discovery  that 
the  period  of  preparation  must  be,  in  our  idea  at  any  rate, 
prolonged.  It  looks  as  if  our  missionaries  were  beginning  to 
suspect  that  the  full  status  of  a  missionary,  to  stand  equal 
with  the  leaders  of  the  work  in  any  field,  were  conferred  too 
soon  upon  young  men  and  women  who  are  entering  upon  their 
career.  The  whole  tendency  of  our  discussions  has  been  to 
say  that  a  man's  or  a  woman's  preparation,  for  full  responsi- 
bility in  missionary  labor,  does  not  seem  to  be  reached  until 
the  end  of  the  first  furlough.  The  first  five  years  ought  to  be 
regarded  as  a  process  of  learning,  and  even  the  first  fur- 
lough as  an  opportunity  for  more  thorough  specialization  in 
that  field,  which  each  missionary  has  discovered  now,  as  it 
could  not  be  discovered  before,  to  be  his  or  her  own  peculiar 
field  of  labor  for  the  future.  And  let  me  say  that  one  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  this  is  the  discovery  I  have  made  as  an  edu- 
cationalist that  you  cannot  put  up  to  a  young  man  or  a  young 
woman  a  stronger  argument  for  a  long  severe  course  of  study 
than  to  suggest  it  to  them  in  this  way :  You  say  you  are 
twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  and  you  think  it  is 

127 


Board   of  Missionary   Preparation   Results 

too  late  to  begin  a  three  years'  theological  course.  You  think 
it  will  be  much  better  to  go  out  now  and  begin  to  build  up 
the  kingdom  of  God  than  to  be  spending  those  three  years  in 
preparation.  Now,  here  is  my  answer:  You  expect  to  serve 
God  from  about  the  age  of  thirty  until  seventy.  That  is  forty 
years,  if  you  are  spared  and  in  good  health  until  you  are 
seventy.  Suppose  you  go  out  now.  You  will  have  forty-three 
years.  You  are  a  nice,  good  fellow ;  you  talk  well,  you  mean 
well ;  you  can  read  and  write  and  you  can  do  a  few  more 
things ;  and  you  have  got  all  the  education  you  think  sufficient. 
Very  well ;  your  ministi-y  for  forty-three  years  will  be  on 
this  level.  Now,  suppose  you  take  three  years  off  the  forty- 
three  and  put  them  into  strenuous  training  of  your  mind — 
not  merely  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  but  the  discipline  of 
the  mind  to  think  in  certain  ways,  and  the  heart  to  feel  in 
certain  ways,  and  the  life  to  move  in  certain  directions.  Sup- 
pose that  you  concentrate  three  years  upon  that  task  of  shaping 
your  personality  and  instructing  it  and  disciplining  it  for  that 
career  of  forty  years.  It  will  be  on  that  much  higher  level  the 
whole  forty  years.  Which  does  God  want  ?  Forty-three  years, 
very  useful,  more  or  less  happy  on  an  easy  level,  or  forty  years 
on  the  highest  levels?     Which  does  God  want? 

I  have  never  had  a  student  resist  that  plea  for  three  more 
years  of  study.  My  plea  is  that  the  boards  of  foreign  mis- 
sions do  not  resist  it.  That  argtnnent  applies  not  merely  to 
the  man  who  is  fumbling  towards  his  career  and  does  not  know 
what  the  steps  to  a  great  career  are,  but  to  the  board  which 
must  help  him  to  see  the  standard  of  efihciency  at  which  he 
must  aim.  It  is  a  great  task  and  the  most  solemn  responsi- 
bility to  see  whether  that  man's  life  and  the  average  life  of  all 
the  men  the  boards  are  going  to  train  henceforth  shall  be  on 
this  level  (indicating  a  low  level)  or  shall  be  on  that  level 
(indicating  a  higher  level)  ;  and  whether  a  year,  or  two  years, 
or  three  years  spent  here  at  sacrifice  just  now  will  not  ulti- 
mately raise  the  level  of  the  whole  field,  if  you  are  putting  peo- 
ple like  that  into  the  field  year  after  year. 

As  the  result  of  our  investigations,  it  is  quite  clear  that  we 
must  begin  missionary  preparation  earlier.  Every  student 
volunteer  in  the  countiy  has  somewhere  on  the  dim  horizon  of 
his  imagination  a  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  He  occasionally 
sees  a  board  secretary's  face  at  a  meeting,  is  addressed  by  him, 
and  he  makes  distinct  and  real  for  a  moment  that  vague  some- 
thing, a  Board  on  the  horizon,  and  he  knows  that  that  15oard 
on  the  horizon  is  the  institution  that  ought  to  command  him, 
take  charge  of  him  at  once,  take  him  by  the  hand  and  lead 
him.  He  ought  to  be  in  touch  with  the  Board,  from  the  time 
he  first  begins  to  decide  upon  the  direction  of  his  career,  not 

X28 


Board   of   Misi^iouary   Preparntioii    Results 

while  he  is  closing  his  college  course ;  still  less,  God  knows, 
when  he  is  closing  his  theological  course.  He  ought  to  be 
guided  in  his  whole  course  of  study  after  making  his  mission- 
ary decision  and  disciplined  for  it  in  the  plastic  years  when  his 
nature  yields  to  every  suggestion  and  to  every  determination 
of  his  will  and  of  his  purpose.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  we 
cannot  ask  anything  less,  or  anything  more  or  greater,  than 
that  so  early  the  grip  of  the  Board  on  the  young  boy  or  girl 
should  be  a  real  grip  and  a  directive  agency,  and  as  long  as 
possible. 

Now,  what  does  that  mean  for  you  secretaries  and  members 
of  the  Boards?  Will  you  forgive  me  for  saying  that  it  seems 
to  me  as  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation 
that  is  reporting  to  you,  very  humbly,  of  course,  that  the  next 
step  would  be  a  conference  that  is  not  managed  by  the  Board 
of  Missionary  Preparation,  but  a  conference  that  is  managed 
by  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference,  for  the  sok  purpose  of 
working  out  the  problems  of  administration,  of  organization, 
and  of  the  expenditure  of  money,  bearing  upon  the  selec- 
tion and  preparation  of  missionary  candidates.  That  is  my 
message  to  you  to-day,  brethren.  I  came  longing  to  be  able  just 
to  put  the  facts,  as  I  have  put  them,  before  you,  and  then  to 
say  as  I  say  now,  it  looks  to  me  as  if  the  hour  had  come  when 
the  Boards  should  not  feel  as  if  we  were  just  pushing  them 
on,  and  they  were  taking  a  little  step  as  they  felt  the  push  irri- 
tating them.  I  feel  as  if  we  ought  now  to  take  another  great 
step,  and  that  will  be  taken  if  the  Boards  will  say  to  them- 
selves:  here  is  all  this  literature;  here  is  all  this  minute  and 
exhaustive  study  of  the  problems.  Now,  what  are  w€  going 
to  do  about  it  ?  We  certainly  cannot  go  on  selecting  and  deal- 
ing with  our  candidates  and  sending  them  out  as  we  have 
been  doing  to  this  hour.  I  could  give  you  illustrations  of  what 
seem  to  me  to  be  exceedingly  dangerous  ways  of  handling  the 
young  people  who  are  going  out  next  year  into  missionary 
fields,  actual  illustrations  that  have  come  under  my  own 
observation  and  that  I  have  had  to  handle.  I  feel  as  if  the 
great  boards  that  are  represented  here  are  now  in  the  presence 
of  an  actual  task  for  which  they  have  a  supreme  responsi- 
bility, and  that  is  of  reconsidering  and  revising,  of  their  own 
motion,  the  whole  system  of  selecting  and  training  and  appoint^ 
ing  their  young  missionaries. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  said  anything  to 
this  Conference  with  more  conviction.  I  have  never  said  any-^ 
thing  about  missionary  preparation  with  more  evidence  behind 
me.  I  trust  if  I  seem  too  urgent — I  hope  none  will  be  dis- 
posed to  say  too  arrogant — I  hope  I  may  be  forgiven.  It  is 
simply  because  in  the  present  hour  of  the  world's  history  an4 

129 


Making:   Effective    Board    of    I'reparaUon    Idrals 

the  Church's  needs,  in  the  development  of  educational  ideals 
and  professional  training,  I  think  it  is  no  longer  in  the  hands 
of  just  a  board  of  studies  like  ours,  but  in  the  hands  of  the 
men  and  women  such  as  those  who  are  here  administering  the 
affairs  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  all  over  the  world, — this  work 
of  carrying  out  the  task  which,  however  imperfectly,  yet  I 
think  not  altogether  without  some  success,  we  have  tried  to 
study,  outline,  and  lay  before  you. 


CAN  THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  MIS- 
SIONARY PREPARATION  AS  TO  THE 
PREPARATION  OF  MISSIONARY  CANDI- 
DATES BE  MADE  EFFECTIVE?^ 

By  Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner 

The  purpose  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  as 
stated  in  the  first  article  of  its  Constitution,  is  "to  secure  the 
most  adequate  kind  and  quality  of  preparation  for  those  who 
are  in  training  for  foreign  missionary  service." 

When  the  Board  was  organized,  its  course  was  far  from 
clear.  The  first  year,  therefore,  was  devoted  to  the  study 
of  the  problem  of  its  policy.  This  led  the  members  of  the 
Board  to  the  conviction  that  the  proi>er  execution  of  its  pur- 
pose involved,  first,  ascertaining  what  is  the  "most  adequate 
kind  and  quality  of  preparation."  Committees  were  ap- 
pointed, therefore,  to  investigate  and  report  on  this  subject. 
Men  and  women  whose  experience  placed  them  in  position  to 
make  the  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  problem  were 
asked  to  serve  on  these  committees. 

Among  the  committees  which  have  already  reported  are 
the  following: 

"The  Committee  on  the  Fundamental  and  Essential  Qualifications 
for  Foreign  Missionary  Service,"  of  which  President  W.  Douglas 
Mackenzie  was  the  Chairman;  "The  Committee  on  the  Preparation 
of  Ordained  and  Evangelistic  Missionaries,"  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer, 
Chairman ;  "The  Committee  on  the  Preparation  of  Medical  Mission- 
aries," Dr.  Fred  P.  Haggard,  Chairman ;  "The  Committee  on  the 
Preparation  of  Educational  Missionaries,"  Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer, 
Chairman ;  "The  Committee  on  the  Preparation  of  Women  Mis- 
sionaries,"   Miss    Helen    P>.    Calder,    Chairman. 

The  Special  Preparation  Necessary  for  Missionaries  Appointed  to 
Japan,  to  China,  to  India,  to  the  Near  East,  to  Pagan  Africa  and  to 
Latin-America. 

'  A  paper  read  at  a  conference  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  held  in 
JvTew    York    in    January,    19 15. 

130 


nisikiiig  KA'ecU^e  Bonrd  of  I'roitariitioii   Idonln 

The  Special  Preparation  Necessary  for  Missionaries  Who  Are  to 
Work  Among  Peoples  of  Different  Religions.  There  will  he  Com- 
mittees on  the  Preparation  Necessary  to  Work  Among  Mohammedans, 
Among  Buddhists,  Among  Confucianists,  Among  Hindus,  Among 
Animists. 

Through  tliese  rei)orts  the  Board  of  Missionafy  Prepara- 
tion has  not  aimed  to  create  new  ideals  of  missionary  prepara- 
tion. It  has  simply  attempted  to  collect,  systematize,  and 
make  available  what  the  experiences  of  missionaries  and  other 
authorities  have  proven  to  be  essential  in  the  preparation  of 
candidates  for  foreign  missionary  service.  But  something 
more  is  necessary.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  bring  together  in 
systematic  fashion  this  body  of  experience,  valuable  though 
it  be.  These  ideals  of  missionary  preparation  must  in  some 
way  be  put  into  practise.  If  this  is  done,  the  following  fac- 
tors are  to  be  considered : 

1.  The  foreign  missionary  candidate; 

2.  The  schools  which   undertake  to  train   the  candidates; 

3.  The  foreign  missionary  Boards. 

Ideals  of  missionary  preparation  which  arc  to  become  ef- 
fective must  be  accepted  as  a  working  basis  by  all  these  classes. 
Let  me  speak  of  each,  beginning  with  the  missionary  can- 
didate. 

I.     The  Foreign  Missionary  Candidate 

Experience  proves  that  earnest  young  men  and  women  look- 
ing forward  to  any  profession  have  never  hesitated  to  take, 
whatever  preparation  is  required  to  equip  them  for  the  pro- 
fession chosen.  In  civilized  countries  the  State  has  estab- 
lished and  published  standards  for  admission  to  the  professions 
of  law  and  medicine.  Since  beginning  the  study  of  this  ques- 
tion, I  have  collected  documents  issued  by  different  states  of 
the  United  States  and  Provinces  of  Canada,  which  set  forth 
the  requirements  for  these  professions.  Young  men  and 
women  raise  no  question  in  regard  to  these  requireinents. 
Furthermore,  in  recent  years,  raising  the  standards  for  ad- 
mission to  the  bar  and  to  the  medical  profession  has  brought 
about  no  dearth  of  candidates.  The  number  qualifying  has  de- 
creased, but  the  country  is  still  amply  supplied  with  physi- 
cians and  lawyers.  Each  denomination  has  established  its  own 
standards  for  admission  to  the  ministry.  Candidates  are  not 
left  in  doubt  as  to  what  is  required  of  them  if  they  are  to  be 
admitted  to  the  ranks  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

Not  so  in  regard  to  candidates  for  foreign  missionary  serv- 
ice. The  question  which  has  been  asked  me  constantly  dur- 
ing the  past  seventeen  years  of  my  service  as  General  Sec- 

131 


Mnking^   KITec-H^e    l(o:ir<l    of    i'r('i»:ir:Hion    Itleal.s 

retary  of  the  Student  A'oluntcer  Movement  lias  been  in  re- 
gard to  the  preparation  required.  If  a  student  wish-es  to  be- 
come a  lawyer,  he  can  secure  in  pamphlet  form  carefully  pre- 
pared statements  as  to  the  requirements  for  admission  to  the 
practise  of  law.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  the  admis- 
sion of  the  prospective  physician  to  the  practise  of  medicine, 
as  it  is  also  in  the  case  of  tlie  minister  or  teacher.  But  there 
has  been  nothing  authoritative  upon  preparation  available  for 
the  missionary  candidate.  There  are  pamphlets,  articles  and 
addresses  bearing  upon  the  subject,  but  all  have  been  most 
general  in  character.  There  are  also  a  few  books,  but  these, 
too,  are  general.  And,  unfortunately,  advice  from  different 
people  has  not  always  been  consistent.  It  has  not  infrequently 
been  conflicting  and  even  confusing.  I  am  convinced  that 
when  we  can  place  before  our  candidates  for  foreign  mis- 
sionary service,  clear-cut,  definite  (and  authorized)  statements 
as  to  what  is  required,  they  will  be  quite  as  desirous  and  de- 
termined to  secure  the  preparation  necessary  as  are  candi- 
dates for  law  or  medicine. 

II.  The  Schools  Which  Train  the  Candidate 

The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  has  had  two  com- 
mittees at  work  studying  the  "facilities  for  the  preparation  of 
candidates  by  schools,  colleges,  and  theological  seminaries." 
These  reports,  which  have  been  published,  show  that  this  un- 
certainty regarding  definite  standard  of  preparation  has  also 
affected  the  schools  in  which  missionary  candidates  are 
trained.  Some  have  had  high  ideals  of  scholarship  and  stiff 
requirements  for  admission,  while  others  have  had  low  ideals 
of  scholarship  and  of  the  preparation  of  the  missionary,  and 
correspondingly  low  standards  of  admission.  In  some,  very 
high  standards  of  intellectual  preparation  have  been  required. 
In  others,  the  conception  of  the  standard  has  been  so  low 
that  students  have  been  admitted  who  have  not  had  even  a 
high  school  education.  These  earnest  young  men  and  women 
have  been  led  to  believe  that  they  could  by  short  courses  of 
study  prepare  themselves  for  a  work  which  experience  has 
proven  makes  varied  and  compelling  demands  upon  those  who 
undertake  its  responsibilities. 

In  theological  seminaries,  there  has  been  little  or  no  dis- 
anction  between  preparation  for  the  work  of  the  ordained 
minister  at  home  and  that  of  the  ordained  foreign  missionary. 

I  am  glad  to  report  that  schools  of  all  kinds  have  shown 
a  readiness  to  cooperate  in  furnishing  the  courses  required 
for  the  proper  training  of  missionar}-  candidates :  First, 
from  a  number  of  institutions  there  have  come  to  the  officers, 

132 


Making  effective  Board  of  Prrimriitioii   Ideals 

and  members  of  the  Board  requests  for  assistance  in  revising 
their  curricula,  in  the  light  of  present  standards  of  prepara- 
tion for  foreign  missionary  candidates,  which  the  investiga- 
tions of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  have  shown  to 
be  necessary.  Again,  most  encouraging  was  the  large  and 
representative  conference  of  presidents  and  professors  of 
theological  seminaries  and  secretaries  of  foreign  mission 
Boards  held  the  first  of  December  last,  at  the  invitation  of 
this  Board,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  what  the  theo- 
logical seminaries  can  do  in  the  preparation  of  foreign  mis- 
sionary candidates.  The  findings  of  that  conference,  which 
will  soon  be  published,  will  set  before  those  concerned  what 
those  best  qualified  to  speak  on  the  subject  believe  to  be  es- 
sential in  the  preparation  of  ordained  missionaries.  Most 
encouraging,  also,  is  the  establishment  in  several  centers  of 
n-ew  institutions  and  new-  departments  in  old  institutions  for 
the  training  of  foreign  missionary  candidates.  Unless  there 
is  some  unexpected  check  in  the  present  development,  in  a 
comparatively  short  time,  the  facilities  for  the  thorough  train- 
ing of  foreign  missionary  candidates  will  be.  ample  in  every 
way  to  meet  the  demands. 

III.     The  Boards  of  Foreign  Mis.sions 

We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  part  which  the 
foreign  mission  Boards  take  in  making  effective  the  work  of 
the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation.  We  frankly  admit  that 
the  possibility  of  realizing  the  ideals  of  this  Board  depends 
in  large  measure,  almost  wholly,  on  the  foreign  mission  Boards. 
I  say  "in  large  measure,"  for  I  am  convinced  that,  if  the 
Boards  were  to  have  no  standards,  the  candidates  and  the 
schools  could  in  some  degree  go  forward,  since  there  is  no 
small  number  of  candidates  who  are  determined  to  secure  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  best  preparation,  even  though  not  offi- 
cially required,  just  as  in  our  colleges,  universities  and  pro- 
fessional schools  are  always  to  be  found  young  men  and 
women  who  go  beyond  the  official  requirements  in  their  de- 
termination to  secure  the  preparation  which  will  fit  them  for 
the  largest  success  in  their  chosen  professions. 

Making  all  due  allowance,  however,  for  these  earnest  can- 
didates, the  fact  remains  that  if  these  ideals  of  preparation 
are  to  be  adequately  realized,  it  depends  upon  the  foreign  mis- 
sion Board  more  than  upon  any  other  one  factor.  The  Board 
alone  carries  the  responsibility  for  the  appointment  of  candi- 
dates. Unless  a  Board  is  convinced  that  the  candidate  has  the 
preparation  necessary,  it  is  obliged  to  reject  him.  Further- 
more, if  the  Board  has  low  standards,  the  average  candidate 

133 


Making   Elffectlve   Board    uf   Prcpariitioii    Idenls 

will  present  hims-clf  prepared  to  meet  those  standards ;  for  it 
is  the  unusual  candidate  who  will  undertake  preparation  in  ad- 
vance of  the  standards  maintained  by  the  Ijoard.  Further- 
more, a  Board  which  has  low  standards  will  not  draw  candi-  ■ 
dates  with  the  highest  ideals  of  preparation.  And  such  a 
Board  puts  a  great  strain  on  the  denominational  loyalty  of  men 
and  women  who  have  attempted  to  secure  the  highest  and  best 
preparation.  This  fact  is  constantly  revealed  in  my  corre- 
spondence and  conversation  with  missionary  candidates. 
Those  who  have  not  secured  preparation  of  a  high  order  turn 
for  appointment  to  those  Boards  whose  requirements  are  low. 
The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  has  had  no  greater 
encouragement  to  go  forward  with  the  work  committed  to  it 
than  has  come  from  the  officers  of  all  the  missionary  Societies. 
In  order  to  be  in  the  position  to  help  the  Societies  most  and 
in  the  way  that  the  assistance  could  best  be  rendered,  one  of 
the  first  committees  of  investigation  appointed  was  the  com- 
mittee on  "The  Plan  and  Practise  of  Foreign  Missionary 
Boards  ,as  to  the  Preparation  Required  of  Their  Candidates," 
of  which  Dr.  James  L.  Barton  was  the  Chairman.  The  re- 
port of  this  Committee  was  published  in  the  Second  Report 
of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  (pages  17-46).  A 
study  of  the  report  of  Dr.  Barton's  Committee  and  of  the  dis- 
cussion which  followed  its  presentation  at  the  Second  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  leads  me  to 
offer  the  following  suggestions  as  to  what,  in  my  judgment, 
is  necessary  on  the  part  of  foreign  mission  Boards,  if  the 
ideals  of  missionary  preparation  are  to  be  made  effective. 

1.  Let  each  Board  adopt  a  standard  of  preparation  for  its 
missionary  candidates.  1  voice  the  feeling  of  other  members 
of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  when  1  say  that  our 
Board  has  no  desire  to  establish  standards  of  preparation  for 
any  foreign  mission  Board.  All  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  can  do  is  to  make  available  for  the  various  for- 
eign mission  Boards  the  results  of  its  investigations.  Each 
Board  must  set  up  its  own  ideals  and  standards.  Probably 
it  will  be  advisable  for  each  foreign  mission  Board  to  appoint 
a  committee  to  study  the  problem  of  preparation  as  related 
to  its  own  work.  The  standards,  when  adopted,  should  be 
put  into  a  form  which  will  be  available  for  candidates  and  for 
schools  where  the  candidates  are  trained. 

2.  Let  each  Board  organize  a  Candidate  Committee  to  deal 
with  candidates  and  to  see  that  the  standards  of  preparation 
are  maintained.  The  majority  of  Boards  have  such  a  com- 
mittee. But  Dr.  Barton's  investigations  revealed  the  fact  that 
these  committees  were  in  most  cases  not  very  active,  and  that 
their   functions  have  been  confined  to  passing  on,  in  a  per- 

134 


Making  ElTeftiv*'  Hoard   of  Preparatlou  Ideals 

functory  manner,  the  papers  of  candidates  who  have  appHed 
and  are  before  the  Board  for  appointment.  To  quote  from 
Dr.  Barton's  report  (page  i8)  : 

I  have  recently  spent  a  long  time  trying  to  fit  into  a  place  a  man 
who,  for  seven  years,  we  now  learn,  has  been  regarding  himself  as 
a  missionary  candidate.  He  has  offered  himself  now.  He  has  made 
no  attempt  at  special  preparation  for  the  work,  and  we  are  trying  to 
find  a  place  in  which  the  candidate,  a  most  worthy  man,  can  use  his 
talent  and  his  unbalanced  equipment  to  the  highest  advantage  for 
the  work;  I  have  no  doubt  that  every  Secretary  here  will  acknowl- 
edge that  much  time  is  spent  in  trying  to  find  a  place  for  a  candidate 
rather  than  a  workman  for  a  task.  We  are  not  out  looking  for 
men  to  do  a  certain  thing,  but  we  are  trying  to  fit  men  whom  we 
have  found  to  do  a  certain  work.  It  is  much  like  a  person  setting 
out  to  erect  a  great  structure,  who  first  goes  out  and  finds  columns, 
pillars,  doorposts  and  steel  beams  and  all  that,  and  assembles  them ; 
and  then  he  studies  the  kind  of  building  he  can  erect  out  of  the 
material  he  has  gathered  together,  instead  of  starting  out  with  a 
plan  for  the  building  and  securing  the  columns  and  beams  and  door- 
posts and  the  material  that  the  building  is  going  to  require  in  order 
to  be  complete  and  effective  and  accomplish  the  object  of  its  con- 
struction. In  looking  over  the  information  received  from  missionary 
societies,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  officers  of  these  societies  are  con- 
scious of  the  fact  that  they  have  been  trying  to  make  the  most  possible 
out  of  the  material  that  has  come  to  them. 

Pardon  a  reference  to  my  own  case.  When  I  went  into  the  mis- 
sion field  in  the  Turkish  Empire  I  never  had  a  word  said  to  me  by 
the  missionary  society  in  regard  to  my  preparation— not  a  word.  I 
had  never  heard  a  lecture  or  read  a  book  on  Mohammedanism,  and 
I  was  sent  to  Turkey.  I  knew  nothing  of  missionary  work  in  Turkey 
except  as  I  hunted  for  and  found  some  books  on  Turkey  after  I  had 
been  appointed.  And  I  think  that  if  we  should  investigate  the  mis- 
sionaries that  went  out  up  to  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  we  should  find 
that  apart  from  the  work  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  as  far  as 
the  Mission  Board  was  concerned,  they  had  received  no  equipment 
for  their  work  and  but  little  suggestion,  except  as  they  asked  for  it 
from  the  missionary  societies  as  to  what  equipment  was  required  for 
the  work  in  the  field. 


If  foreign  mission  Boards  are  to  deal  in  any  adequate  way 
with  the  candidates,  the  functions  of  the  Candidate  Commit- 
tee must  be  enlarged  to  include  a  consideration  of  the  candi- 
dates, as  soon  as  these  young  men  and  women  have  formed 
the  purpose  to  become  foreign  missionaries.  It  is  not  suf- 
ficient for  a  Candidate  Committee  to  accept  or  reject  candi- 
dates who  come  before  them  supposedly  ready  to  start  in  a 
few  weeks  for  their  fields.  Surely,  the  responsibility  should 
include  a  study  of  these  young  men  and  women  sufficiently 
early  to  enable  the  Candidate  Committee  to  assist  in  the  direc- 
tion of  their  courses  of  preparation,  to  help  them  in  deciding 
on  the  form  of  service  they  should  undertake  and  on  the  field 
for   which  they  should  prepare,   and  to   see  to   it  that   their 

135 


Making   Effective    Boartl    of   rrt'paration    Ideals 

health  improves  and  is  not  becoming  impaired  as  they  go  for- 
ward with  the  task  of  preparation. 

Furthermore,  this  committee  has  a  responsibiHty  for  those 
candidates  who  ought  never  to  go  to  the  foreign  mission  field. 
Is  it  not  as  much  a  duty  to  direct  into  other  channels  candi- 
dates who  can  never  be  qualified  for  foreign  work,  or  whose 
responsibilities  and  circumstances  are  such  that  they  ought 
not  go  abroad?  These  earnest,  devoted  men  and  women  need 
guidance  and  encouragement.  The  missionary  cause  has  no 
greater  asset  in  the  Church  at  home  than  the  candidate  who, 
for  reasons  beyond  his  control,  has  been  unable  to  realize  his 
desire  to  become  a  foreign  missionary.  But  if  he  is  to  be  an 
asset,  he  must  be  dealt  with  intelligently,  sympathetically  and 
authoritatively.  He  must  be  given  satisfactory  reasons  why 
he  cannot  be  sent  abroad,  and  must  not  be  given  the  impres- 
sion that  the  Board  has  not  dealt  fairly  with  him  or  that  the 
reason  assigned  for  not  appointing  him  is  not  the  real  reason. 
And  all  this  should  be  done  as  soon  as  possible.  In  many 
cases  it  can  be  done  before  he  has  spent  years  preparing  for  a 
work  upon  which  he  can  never  enter. 

3.  Let  each  Board  appoint  a  secretary  whose  primary 
work,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Candidate  Committee,  is 
to  deal  zs.'ith  candidates.  With  the  larger  Boards,  this  work 
will  demand  the  entire  time  of  a  secretary.  With  Boards, 
the  number  of  whose  candidates  is  not  sufficient  to  recjuire  all 
the  time  of  one  man,  such  a  secretary  should  be  appointed 
and  given  to  understand  that  his  duties  as  candidate  secre- 
tary are  to  have  right  of  way,  and,  if  any  of  his  work  is  to  be 
left  undone,  it  should  not  be  the  work  relating  to  candidates. 
For  what  more  important  work,  what  greater  responsibility 
has  a  Board  than  intelligent,  prompt,  and  conscientious  dealing 
with  young  men  and  women  who  off^er  their  lives  for  foreign 
missionary  service !  And  what  greater  opportunity  can  come 
to  a  secretary  than  that  of  selecting  and  directing  the  training 
of  candidates  in  their  preparation?  As  Dr.  Barton  w^ell  points 
out  in  the  report  of  his  Committee  (page  17)  : 

The  strength  of  missionary  work  abroad  depends  under  God  upon 
the  efficiency  of  the  missionary  force.  It  is  not  dependent  upon  num- 
bers, it  is  not  dependent  upon  the  money  that  the  missionary  societies 
have,  but  it  is  dependent  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  missionary  force 
put  into  the  field ;  and  I  think  without  'question  we  would  all  agree 
that  a  small — but  efficient — missionary  force  will  be  far  more  effective 
in  the  volume  and  permanency  of  the  work  accomplished  than  a  much 
larger  but  inefficient  missionary  force,  and  be  much  less  expensive. 

If  this  be  true,  a  Board  may  well  set  apart  a  secretary  to 
give  the  time  neces.sary  to  insure  the  selection  and  proper 
training    of    its    missionaries.       When    the    "hand-to-mouth 

136 


Milking  E^ffective  Board  of  Preparation  Ideala 

method''  employed  by  some  Boards,  as  reported  by  Dr.  Bar- 
ton's committee,  is  studied,  one.  does  not  wonder  that  some 
Boards  find  it  difficuh  and  sometimes  impossible  to  secure 
properly  qualified  candidates  for  their  work. 

In  the  last  analysis,  the  ideals  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  can  be  made  efifective  only  when  each  Board  has 
a  secretary  who  makes  the  work  among  candidates  his  major 
responsibility.  It  will  be  his  duty,  of  course,  to  bring  for- 
ward each  year  a  sufficient  number  of  properly  qualified  can- 
didates for  the  Board  to  send  out  that  year.  This  will  be 
no  small  task  if  the  candidates  have  the  qualifications  and 
preparation  which  is  suggested  by  Dr.  Barton  in  the  para- 
graph just  quoted. 

In  order  to  do  this  properly,  the  secretary  must  do  vastly 
more  than  examine  and  prepare  the  papers  of  the  candidates 
who  are  to  be  sent  to  the  mission  field  in  any  given  year.  His 
work  with  the  candidates  must  begin  as  soon  as  the  young 
men  or  women  have  decided  to  become  missionaries.  If  he 
can  begin  while  they  are  in  college,  so  much  the  better ;  for 
then  he  can  begin  his  study  of  the  young  men  and  women  and 
can  help  in  directing  their  preparation  at  the  time  when  it 
will  have  greatest  possibilities.  Beginning  thus  early,  the 
secretary  can  estimate  the  kind  of  work  for  which  the  native 
abilities  of  the  candidates  will  fit  them,  and  their  training 
can  be  directed  into  the  channels  in  which  they  will  render 
the  best  service.  The  secretary  will  become,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years,  an  expert  on  the  supply  of  candidates  for  his 
Board. 

To  make  him  so,  he  must  also  become  an  expert  on  the  de- 
mand from  the  mission  field.  It  will  be  impossible  for  the 
secretary  to  render  the  service  needed  in  studying  the  quali- 
fications of  candidates,  or  in  assisting  to  direct  their  prepa- 
ration, if  he  possesses  nothing  more  than  a  superficial  knowl- 
edge of  the  work  of  the  Board  on  the  foreign  field.  In  my 
judgment,  therefore,  the  secretary,  who  is  to  have  charge  of 
the  work  with  candidates,  should  be  related  to  the  department 
of  foreign  administration  of  the  Board  in  preference  to  the 
department  of  home  administration.  For  he  must  have  most 
intimate  and  detailed  knowledge  of  the  work  of  his  Board  on 
the  foreign  mission  field ;  he  must  be  fully  informed  as  to 
the  places  to  be  manned  and  the  kind  of  workers  required  in 
dififerent  stations,  if  he  is  to  be  of  greatest  help  in  guiding 
young  men  and  women  in  their  preparation  and  in  selecting 
them  for  the  fields  and  stations  to  which  they  are  to  be 
assigned. 


137 


LITERATURE  SUGGESTED  FOR  THOSE  IN 
PREPARATION  FOR  FOREIGN  MISSION- 
ARY SERVICE 

The  attention  of  Candidate  Secretaries  is  called  to  the  fol- 
lowing i)amphlets  and  books  which  are  of  value  to  those  pre- 
paring for  foreign  missionary  service. 

In  the  following  Reports  issued  by  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  there  are  definite  suggestions  as  to  subjects  and 
courses  to  be  elected  in  college  and  professional  school.  They 
will  be  of  inestimable  value  to  the  students  who  desire  to  elect 
those  courses  which  will  contribute  directly  to  adequate  prepa- 
ration as  foreign  missionaries : 

Fundamental  Qualifications  of  the  Foreign  Missionary Sc. 

Preparation  for  different  forms  of  service 

The   Preparation  of  Ordained  Missionaries loc. 

The  Preparation  of  Educational  Missionaries loc. 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  for  Literary  Work loc. 

The    Preparation    of    Women    for    Missionary    Service loc. 

Preparation  for  different  Fields 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  for  China loc. 

The    Preparation    of    Missionaries    for    India loc. 

The  Preparation  of   Missionaries  for  Japan loc. 

The    Preparation    of    Missionaries    for    Latin    America loc. 

The    Preparation   of    Missionaries    for   the    Near    East loc. 

The   Preparation   of   Missionaries   for    Pagan   Africa loc. 

Preparation  to  present  the  message  of  Christianity 

The  Presentation  of  Christianity  in  Confucian  Lands soc. 

The    Presentation    of    Christianity    to    Hindus 50c. 

The    Presentation    of    Christianity    to    IMoslems 50c. 

The  Report  of  a  Conference  on  the  Preparation  of  Educational 
Missionaries    (6th    Report    B.    M.    P.) : SOc. 

In   this  volume  are   found   suggestions  regarding  courses  wliich  those   prepar- 
ing for  work  as  educational  missionaries  will  find  most  valuable. 

The    Report   of   a   Conference   on   the    Preparation   of   Ordained 

Missionaries 25c. 

]n    this   pamphlet    are    found    suggestions    regarding   courses    of   study    which 

those    prejiaring   for    work   as   ordained   or   evangelistic   missionaries   will 

find  most  valuable. 

The    Report    of    a    Conference    on    the    Preparation    of    Medical 

Missionaries    2Sc. 

In   this   will    be    found    suggestions   regarding   courses   of    study    w'hich    those 
preparing    for    medical    work    will    find    most    valuable. 

The  Report  of  a  Conference  on  the  Preparation  of  Women  for 

Foreign   Missionary   Service 25c. 

This   contains  lists   of   suggestions   regarding   courses  of   study    which    women 
will    find   most   valuable   in   their    preparation. 

The  following  books  arc  invaluable  to  those  preparing  for 
foreign  missionary  work  and  should  be  in  the  library  of  every 
Missionary  Candidate: 

138 


Committee   of  Medical   Authorities    Needed 

The  Foreign  Missionary,  by  Dr.  Arthur  J.   Brown. 

No    book    contains    as    nnich    information    in    regard    to    the    life    and    work    of    a 
foreign   missionary    as   this.      Price    in    limp    cloth,    68c. 

The    Preparation   of    Missionaries.     Volume   5,    Report   World's    Mis- 
sionary Conference,  Edinburgh,   1910. 

This  volume  contains  the   report  on  the  preparation   necessary   for   foreign  mission- 
aries,  presented   at   the    Edinburgh    Conference,    and   the   discussion    which   fol- 
lowed.     Price   in    cloth   binding,    75c. 
Counsel   to    New    Missionaries — From   older   missionaries. 
This  is  a  book  of  personal  counsel;  all  of  its  chapters  were  written  by  experienced 
missionaries,    who    place    at    the    disposal    of    new    missionaries    some    of    their 
invaluable    experience,    2Sc. 
Student  Volunteer  Edition  of  the  Findings  of  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee   Conferences    Held   in   Asia,    1912-1913,   under   the    Chairman- 
ship of   Dr.  John   R.   Mott. 

This  volume   deals  with  the   most   difficult   problems   of  the   mission   field.      Price   in 
cloth    binding,    $1.7.=;. 

Call,  Qualifications  and  Preparation  of  Missionary  Candidates. 
This    is    a    collection    of    articles    written    by    missionary    authorities    from    all    parts 
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Educational   Missions,   by   Dr.   James   L.    Barton. 

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REPORT  OF  SUB-COMMITTEE  ON  MEDICAL 
MISSIONS 

The  Sub-Committee  on  Medical  Missions  of  the  Committee 
of  Reference  and  Counsel  had  before  it  at  one  of  its  meetings 
the  following  paper  prepared  by  J.  C.  Vaughan,  M.D.,  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Methodist  Hospital,  Nanchang,  China.  After 
careful  consideration  it  was  voted  to  recommend  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Reference  and  Counsel  that  the  paper  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  Canada  and  the 
United  States  for  their  consideration.  This  recommendation 
was  approved  and  the  paper  was  sent  to  all  the  Boards.  Since 
the  paper  is  referred  to  in  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on 
Findings  (see  Section  III,  paragraph  5,  on  page  10)  it  is  in- 
cluded in  this  volume  for  the  convenience  of  the  readers  of  this 
Report  of  Conference  on  Missionary  Candidates. 

The  Need  for  the  Appointment  of  a  Com- 
mittee of  Medical  Authorities  to  Supervise 
the  Medical  Work  of  a  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions 

/.  Reasons  for  such  a  Committee: 

1.  The  appointment  of  such  a  committee  has  been  advised  by 
Committees    on    Medical   Work   of    medical    missionaries. 

2.  There  is  a  lack  of  unity,  standardization,  and  efficiency  in  the 
hospital   and   medical   work   of   a   Board. 

3.  The  Secretaries  of  a  Board  cannot  be  expected  to  administer 
in  necessary  detail  a  highly  specialized  work  like  this.  They  can  only 
deal   in   generalities   and   principles,    whereas   the   development   of    the 

139 


Coiniiiittee   of   Modioal    Au<ii<tritieN    deeded 

modern    hospital     and    modern    medical     science    demands    a    closer 
and    more    accurate    administration    than    this. 

4.  Our  doctors  and  nurses  frequently  leave  us.  The  reasons  for 
it  should  be  studied.  Investigate  whether  we  are  losing  workers  in 
this  field  more  rapidly  than  other  fields  or  other  missions  are  losing 
them.  Now  and  during  the  succeeding  five  years  medical  workers 
are    going    to    be    more    difficult    to    secure.      With    the    help    of    this 

'  committee    we    should    make    tlie    medical    work    of    our    Mission    as 
attractive  as  possible. 

5.  In  view  of  modern  medical  demands,  our  hospitals  are  suffer- 
ing from  a  poverty  of  equipment,  of  maintenance  funds,  and  of  staff 
that  should  be  investigated  and  remedied.  The  China  Medical  Board 
offers  help.  This  Committee  should  help  Secretaries  prepare  an 
aggressive  program  in  detail   for  the  cooperation  of   this   Board. 

6.  Our  medical  workers  in  the  midst  of  their  heavy  duties  would 
get  much  comfort  and  new  confidence  in  the  administration  if  they 
knew  that  their  work  vvith  its  needs  and  its  program  of  development 
was  being  studied  by  a  competent  professional  committee,  as  well 
as  by  our  Bishops  and  Secretaries. 

//.  Some  Problems  and  Work  for  this  Committee  to   Undertake. 

1.  Keep  the  workers  we  have  in  our  medical  branch.  Study 
their  problems  and  discouragements  and  try  to  correct  tliem.  Supply 
by  frequent  and  friendly  correspondence  the  personal  and  profes- 
sional  touch   the   administration   needs   with   this   branch   of    its    force. 

2.  Advise  the  Administration  and  Candidate  Secretary  as  to  the 
acceptability  of  new  candidates.  Assist  in  the  effort  to  secure  new 
candidates    (medical). 

3.  Advise  the  Board  as  to  its  general  policy  in  medical  work  and 
suggest  policies  for  special  locations.  Isolated  workers  often  get 
into  ruts.  Help  them  to  get  out  by  g;iving  them  fresh  vision  and 
courage.  Help  our  workers  during  their  furlough  period  to  get 
the  most  possible  for  their  professional  efficiency  out  of  their  fur- 
lough. 

4.  Advise  on  all  hospital  bujlding  plans,  locations,  and  equipment. 
Cooperate  with  the  purchasing  department  in  the  purchasing  of  medi- 
cal supplies  and  equipment. 

5.  Advise  as  to  appropriations  for  the  maintenance  and  operations 
of  our  medical  plants.  Might  it  not  be  well  to  change  the  basis  of 
medical  appropriations,  granting,  for  instance,  a  lump  sum  to  the 
medical  work  in  different  countries,  and  allowing  this  committee 
to  subdivide  it  to  the  various  localities  on  the  information  it  receives, 
from  the  field?  Under  the  present  system  when  tlie  Hoard  sends  a 
man  out  to  a  hospital  center,  no  one  can  tell  him  what  an  eccentric 
Finance  Committee  may  do  with  liis  appropriation.  The  appointing 
powers  should  have  more  responsiliility  in  the_  appropriations. 

6.  Supervise  the  work  of  medical  examinations  of  candidates. 
Advise  the  Board  in  this  matter  and  in  the  matter  of  sick  leave  and 
supervision  of  furlough  when  taken  for  health  reasons.  Work  of 
medical  examiners  should  be  unified  under  this  committee,  and  com- 
plete health   files  of   all   missionaries   should  be   kept. 

7.  Cooperate  with  the  Board  m  publicity  effort  in  behalf  of  medical 
work.  Secure  material  from  the  field  and  assist  in  its  dissemination. 
Prepare  and  keep  up  to  date  a  file  of  all  physicians  of  the  denomina- 
tion, and  secure  and  maintain  their  interest  in  medical  missions  of 
the  Board. 

///.  Sotne  Committee  Methods. 

I.  Composition:  This  Committee  should  be  composed  of  abouf 
five    members    resident    in    or    near    headquarters    of    the    Board.      At 

140 


J>liMli<-:il    lOxniiiiiialiou    «>1'    iMi.sHiuiiaries 

least   three  should  be  physicians.     One   might  well   he  an   institutional 
nurse   and   one   a   hospital    superintendent. 

2.  The  Committee  should  hold  meetings  lii-weekly,  or  more  fre- 
quently if  necessary,  to  discuss  field  plans  and  problems  and  to  take 
action    on    matters    referred    to    it    by    the    Board    or   the    Secretaries. 

3.  There  should  be  special  office  room  granted  to  this  Committee 
for  their  work  and  their  tiles.  They  should  have  the  services  of  a 
stenographer   several   afternoons   a   week   as   needed. 

4.  If  the  Board  has  a  salaried  Director  or  Consultant  on  medical 
work,  he  should  be  the  leader  of  this  Committee.  Such  a  Director 
would  be  advisable.  With  offices  in  the  building  and  with  a  modest 
X-ray  equipment,  he  could  probably  build  up  a  contract  practise 
with  neighboring  down  town  firms  sufficient  to  keep  him  alive  in  his 
profession  and  to  cover  fully  half  of  his  salary.  If  he  could  also 
direct  the  center  for  examination  of  candidates  for  most  of  the 
missionary  Boards  another  considerable  source  of  revenue  would  be 
obtained. 


Medical  Examinations  of  Missionary  Force 

/.  Purpose. 

1.  Make  the  examinations  of  candidates  and  furlough  mission- 
aries more  complete  and  better  systematized  than  under  the  present 
system. 

2.  Examiners  should  be  selected  who  have  some  appreciation  of 
field  conditions. 

3.  In  doubtful  cases,  rather  than  reject  or  accept  a  doubtful  case 
on  one  man's  opinion,  secure  a  broader  judgment  through  the  use 
of  referees. 

4.  There  should  be  a  checking  back  of  examiners'  errors  so  as 
to  avoid  similar  errors  in  the  future.  Such  a  checking  can  only  be 
done    by    maintaining   a   complete    file   of    the   health    of    missionaries. 

5.'  There  should  be  a  more  constant  and  continuous  observation 
of  our  missionary  workers  on  the  field  by  their  physicians  with  a  full 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  such  local  physicians  of  their  past  history 
and  its  liabilities.  Such  information  should  be  furnished  from  the 
examining  physician's  data  by  the  office  of  the  Board. 

6.  There  should  be  a  centralized  general  supervision  of  mission- 
aries on  sick  leave.  They  should  feel  that  they  are  under  the  com- 
petent advice  and  orders  of  a  central  medical  authority  which  should 
be  regularly  informed  as  to  the  progress  of  their  condition.  Public 
speaking  campaigns,  travel,  and  return  to  the  field  should  be  con- 
trolled by  the  Board's  central  medical  authority.  Possibly  there 
should  also  be  some  similar  advisory  regulation  of  all  of  our  mis- 
sionaries  during   furlough. 

7.  The  various  mission  boards  and  Christian  associations  should 
unite  in  a  common  system  of  organization  and  health  records,  and 
use  the  same  examiners  and  referee  committees  when  possible. 
These  examiners  could  then  afiford  to  make  a  more  intensive  study 
of  this  work,  and  their  interest  and  competence  in  it  would  be  much 
enhanced. 

8.  To   summarize   the   object   of    the   above   suggestions — 
To    make   our   medical    supervisory   system 

(a)  More  educative  for  the  examiner  and  thereby  make  him  more 
competent. 

{b)  More  protective  for  the  missionary — as  candidate,  as  field 
worker,   and   as    furloughed    invalid. 

(c)    More  helpful  to  the  field   physician, 

141 


The   Ali.sNiomiry   C'liuiliilatv   »iid   the   Cnutliilatc   Scerelary 

//.  Some  Methods. 

1.  Let  as  many  Boards  and  Societies  as  can  be  induced  to  do  so 
cooperate   using  the   same   examiners,  and  the   same   forms. 

2.  The  physical  examination  should  be  complete  using  all  the 
modern  metliods  of  completely  testing  physical  and  psychical  effi- 
ciency. Always  make  X-ray  studies  of  teeth,  sinuses,  chest,  ab- 
domen, and  vertebrae ;  and  complete  studies  of  kidneys  and  vascular 
system. 

3.  Follow  up  from  the  central  office  all  cases  going  to  the  field, 
securing  a  routine  health  report  from  the  local  field  physician  at 
the  end  of  one  year,  and  again  at  tlie  end  of  three  years,  and  just 
before  furlough  for  new  missionaries,  and  for  old  missionaries  as 
conditions  would  make  advisable. 

4.  Have  a  comprehensive  and  accurate  file  system.  Make  exam- 
ination forms  in  triplicate — one  for  the  central  office,  one  for  the  exam- 
iner, and  one  to  be  forwarded  to  the  field  physician.  The  field 
physician  will  then  know  from  the  start  any  latent  disabilities  feared 
by  the  examiner. 

5.  To  avoid  expense  of  travel  on  the  part  of  candidates,  there 
could  be  three  or  four  centers  of  examination,  but  all  should  be 
correlated  under  a  general  Director  so  as  to  unify  and  check  up  the 
work. 


THE  MISSIONARY  CANDIDATE  AND  THE 
CANDIDATE  SECRETARY^ 

By  Fen  NELL  P.  Turner 

The  most  important  factor  in  the  foreign  missionary  enter- 
prise is  the  missionary.  This  is  a  truism  of  which  w€  need  to 
remind  ourselves  from  time  to  time.  As  officers  of  missionary 
organizations  we  become  so  engrossed  in  raising  annual  bud- 
gets, in  providing  needed  equipment  and  in  other  problems  of 
administration  which  press  upon  us,  that  this  fact  is  often 
obscured — if  not  sometimes  lost  sight  of.  Given  the  right  kind 
of  a  missionary  and  the  work  prospers.  Take  away  the  mis- 
sionary, or  send  out  weak,  poorly  qualified,  inefficient  men, 
devoid  of  qualities  of  spiritual  leadership,  and  the  work 
languishes  and  dies^even  though  there  be  ideal  equip- 
ment. Even  the  direction  of  work  on  the  field  and  the  de- 
termination of  policies  in  regard  to  problems  of  administration 
are  not  more  important ;  for  however  sound  and  wise  the  plans 
or  far-reaching  the  policies,  they  cannot  be  put  into  operation 
unless  there  be  qualified  men  and  women  to  make  them  ef- 
fective on  the  mission  field.  Furthermore,  the  history  of  the 
Foreign  Missionary  enterprise  shows  that  most  of  the  policies 
of  lasting  value  have  been  conceived  and  developed  and  made 
realities  by  the  missionaries  themselves.     A  lloard  cannot  af- 

'  A  paper  read  at  llie  Foreign  Missions  Conferenee  in  Garden  City  in  January, 
1917. 

142 


The   Missioiiiiry  Cnucli<1:i<e   siml   tlic   Cainli<ljiti'   .Secretary 

ford  to  deal  lightly  or  superficially  with  the  men  and  women 
who,  believing  that  God  has  called  them  to  the  foreign  mission 
field,  ofl^er  themselves  to  the  Hoard  for  this  work.  A  Board 
exercises  no  higher  function  than  that  of  selecting  mission- 
aries. What  more  solemn  res{)onsibi'ity  could  be  undertaken 
than  to  be  called  upon  to  vote  to  send  out  certain  men  and 
women  and  to  hold  back  others?  In  a  peculiar  sense  the 
Board  at  such  times  is  the  instrument  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
separating  men  and  women  for  this  holy  service. 

If  the  foregoing  in  regard  to  the  place  of  the  missionary  be 
admitted — and  I  know  of  no  one  in  this  company  who  will  not 
subscribe  to  it — the  strategic  importance  of  the  missionary 
candidate  will  be  admitted.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  Mission 
Boards  are  justified  in  adopting  any  method  for  dealing  with 
candidates  which  promises  an  adequate  supply  of  cjualified 
men  and  women  for  the  work  abroad. 

In  order  to  put  before  you  graphically  the  numerical  record 
of  our  North  American  Boards  and  Societies  in  meeting  this 
responsibility,  the  charts  on  pages  154,  155,  156,  and  157  show 
the  number  of  recruits  sent  out  during  the  past  fourteen  years, 
making  use  of  data  which  during  that  period  I  have  collected 
from  the  missionary  societies  of  Canada  and  the  United  States. 

Charts  I  and  IV  show  the  total  number  of  men  and  women 
going  out  as  missionaries  for  the  first  time.  (No  one  who 
has  ever  been  to  a  mission  field  before  has  been  counted.) 

Charts  II  and  III  show  as  far  as  possible  from  the  data  at 
hand  the  kind  of  work  they  were  to  take  up. 

Marked  fluctuations  are  evident  in  certain  years.  The  in- 
formation at  hand  seems  to  show  that  these  fluctuations  have 
been  produced : 

1.  By  fluctuations  in  the  annual  income  of  the  Boards.  In- 
creased funds  at  the  disposal  of  the  Boards  have  resulted  in 
larger  appropriations  for  new  missionaries;  a  falling  otT  in 
contributions,  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  new  missionaries. 

2.  By  the  use  of  the  income  during  certain  years  for  equip- 
ment purposes  on  the  part  of  many  Boards,  thus  reducing  the 
amount  available  for  new  missionaries  during  those  years. 
This  is  often  kept  up  until  the  situation  on  the  field  impera- 
tively demands  an  increase  in  missionary  force.  Then  for  a 
year  or  two  these  Boards  send  out  a  much  larger  number  of 
new  missionaries.  Having  met  the  immediate  needs  for  new 
workers,  the  available  funds  are  again  devoted  to  other  pur- 
poses and  the  number  of  new  missionaries  sent  out  is  greatly 
decreased. 

3.  By  the  inability  of  the  Boards  to  find  the  men  and  women 
having  the  qualifications  required  for  the  work.  For  example, 
for  several  years,  practically  every  Board  has  been  unable  to 

143 


The   Minsionnry  Caiididaie   niiil   <Iic   Candidate   Secretary 

find  physicians  (both  men  and  women).  If  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  quahfied  physicians  could  be  found  at  the  present  time, 
there  would  be  a  bis?  increase  in  the  number  of  new  mission- 
aries api)ointed  during  1917. 

Conversations  and  correspondence  with  the  Secretaries  of 
the  Boards  and  a  study  of  the  data  available  in  the  office  of 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  show  that  there  is  no  lack  of 
men  and  women  who  want  to  become  missionanes.  The  dis- 
tressing fact  is  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  these  applicants 
•are  not  adequately  prepared.  If  all  the  applicants  were  quali- 
fied th^re  would  be  every  year  a  surplus  for  all  Boards.  One 
Board  which  last  year  was  unable  to  secure  all  the  candi- 
dates it  was  pre])arcd  to  send  out  reported  several  hundred 
names  on  its  list  of  candidates  and  prospective  candidates. 
Another  secretary  reports  that  his  Board  accepts  only  about 
25  per  cent,  of  those  who  apply.  ' 

My  study  of  the  situation  has  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that 
'one  of  the  chief  difficulties  is  due  to  the  fact  that  only  a  few 
Boards  have  a  settled,  clear-cut  policy  of  dealing  with  the  men 
and  women  who  want  to  become  missionaries.  The  lack  of  a 
definite  policy  results  (i)  in  fluctuations  in  the  supply  of 
available  candidates;  (2)  in  accepting  and  sending  to  the  field 
many  new  missionaries  with  preparation  which  is  inadequate ; 
(3)  in  rejecting  no  small  number  of  applicants  who  might 
have  been  satisfactory  if  they  had  been  trained  under  expert 
direction  ;  (4)  in  delaying  the  appointment  of  some  excellent 
candidates  and  the  permanent  loss  of  others  because  of  debts 
incurred  in  securing  their  preparation  for  missionary  service; 
(5)  in  misfits  on  the  field  because  they  are  not  trained  for 
the  specific  work  to  which  they  are  assigned;  (6)  in  rejected 
applicants  w^ho  are  disappointed  and  soured  because  they  are 
not  accepted  after  years  of  preparation,  since  they  justly  feel 
that  their  unfitness  for  the  work  should  have  been  discovered 
before  they  had  spent  so  much  time  in  preparation  for  a  work 
for  which  they  did  not  have  the  essential  qualifications;  (7) 
in  the  loss  of  men  and  women,  who  with  proper  training 
would  make  good  missionaries,  because  there  has  been  no 
method  of  following  them  up  and  keeping  them  tied  to  the 
Board  during  period  of  preparation;  (8)  in  weakening  the 
confidence  of  candidates  and  their  friends  in  the  Board's  ad- 
ministration. 

The  following  experiences  of  candidates  out  of  my  own 
knowledge  will  serve  to  illustrate : 

A  young  man  s])oke  to  the  Secretary  of  his  Board  about  be- 
ing sent  to  a  difficult  field  for  which  the  Board  was  seeking 
candidates.  The  Secretary  encouraged  the  applicant  to  apply 
to  the  Board.     So  confident  was  he  that  the  application  would 

144 


The   Missionury   Canditlatc   aud   tlio   Candidate   Secretary 

be  acted  uj)on  favorably  thai  the  young  man  was  encouraged 
to  look  forward  to  this  field. 

Later  this  young  man  had  an  interview  with  Secretary  No. 
2  of  the  same  Board,  who  told  him  that  the  Board  could  not 
possibly  enlarge  its  force  in  that  particular  field.  He  was  not 
only  not  encouraged  to  go  forward  with  preparation  for  that 
field,  but  advised  to  prepare  for  another  field. 

In  due  time  the  lioard  accepted  the  man  for  the  field  for 
which  he  had  first  applied,  and  Secretary  No.  i  wrote,  advis- 
ing special  preparation  din-ing  the  next  year.  The  young  man 
therefore  entered  a  university  for  a  year  where  courses, 
necessary  for  his  special  work  and  field,  were  ofifered.  Dur- 
ing his  year  at  the  university  he  received  a  letter  from  Secre- 
tary No.  2,  inquiring  about  his  plans  for  the  coming  year.  The 
perplexed  candidate  in  talking  with  a  friend  expressed  himself 
as  being  very  much  discouraged  to  find  that  a  Secretary  of 
the  Board  which  had  given  him  his  appointment  did  not  know 
what  he  was  going  to  do  during  the  next  year,  and  his  con- 
fidence in  the  Board  was  weakened.  It  was  with  difificulty 
that  Secretary  No.  i  kept  this  candidate  from  withdrawing  his 
application. 

Another  candidate,  on  graduation  from  college,  called  on  a 
Secretary  of  her  Board  to  talk  with  him  about  preparation  for 
the  field  which  would  be  needed  in  addition  to  her  college 
course.  This  Secretary  gave  little  or  no  encouragement  with 
regard  to  special  preparation,  but  properly  laid  emphasis  on 
the  spiritual  cjualifications  and  on  essential  personal  qualifica- 
tions such  as  being  able  to  get  on  with  one's  fellow  workers, 
good  health  and  other  general  suggestions  wdiich  are  usually 
ofi'ered  to  applicants.  She  was  led  to  think  that  she  could  go  to 
the  mission  field  with  little  additional  preparation.  Being  hin- 
dered by  family  responsibilities  she  was  unable  to  apply  to  the 
Board  for  several  years.  When  tlie  way  was  clear,  she  called 
at  the  office  of  the 'Board,  but  talked  with  another  secretary 
about  the  work,  who  expressed  very  great  regret  that  she  was 
applying  so  late  that  she  would  now  have  no  time  to  make  the 
special  preparation  which  was  necessary.  A  few  weeks  later 
she  met  a  third  secretary  of  the  same  Board,  who  without  any 
attempt  to  find  out  what  advice  had  already  been  given  and 
what  the  young  woman  was  fitted  for,  strongly  urged  that  she 
undertake  the  nurse's  preparation,  as  nurses  were  very  much 
needed  by  the  Board  at  that  time.  This  advice  was  given  to  a 
young  woman  already  fitted  to  do  successful  work  as  a  teacher. 

These  two  cases  illustrate  on  the  part  of  two  Boards  some 
of  the  difficulties  with  which  candidates  have  had  to  contend. 
The  candidates  become  discouraged,  they  spread  their  discour- 
agement  among   their    friends   and    the    result   is   that   others 


145 


The   Missionary  Cauditlnte  and  tlie   Can«H«1si<e   Secretary 

who  might  come  forward  with  offers  of  service  do  not  do  so 
because  of  the  uncertainty  which  reports  of  such  experiences 
create  in  their  minds. 

Candidates  complain  that  they  are  not  assigned  to  the  field 
of  work  which  they  are  to  undertake  until  a  very  short  time 
before  they  are  to  sail,  and  then  no  time  is  left  for  special 
preparation  for  that  field  to  which  they  are  sent. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  candidates  are  changed  from  one 
field  to  another  on  very  short  notice.  This  creates  uncertainty 
in  their  minds  and  leads  to  the  lack  of  confidence  in  the  wis- 
dom of  the  administration.  The  experience  of  a  candidate 
comes  to  mind.  This  man  was  accepted  for  work  in  a  certain 
field  and  for  two  years  had  been  making  special  preparation 
for  that  field.  The  secretary  who  had  led  him  to  decide  on 
that  particular  field  (changing  him  from  another)  was  faced 
with  an  emergency  in  a  third  field  and  turned  to  this  candi- 
date, urging  him  to  make  another  change  of  fields.  This  can- 
didate was  left  in  very  great  uncertainty  and  there  has  grown 
up  in  his  mind  a  feeling  of  lack  of  confidence  in  the  judgment 
of  his  secretary,  which  is  becoming  so  strong  that  he  may  be 
lost  to  that  Board. 

This  lack  of  definite  policy  in  dealing  with  candidates  is  un- 
satisfactory to  the  schools  which  train  missionaries  because 
they  find  it  impossible  to  give  to  the  candidates  under  their 
care  anything  like  the  instruction  which  is  necessary  for  the 
work  and  the  field  to  which  the  candidate  has  been  assigned. 
We  believe  the  schools  exist  for  the  candidate  and  not  the  can- 
didate for  the  schools,  but  we  demand  the  impossible  of  the 
schools  if  we  expect  them  to  properly  train  candidates  when 
these  candidates  do  not  know  until  a  few  weeks  before  sailing, 
to  what  field  they  have  been  assigned. 

The  methods  employed  in  handling  candidates  have  not  kept 
pace  with  the  demands  on  the  fields  so  far  as  the  training  of 
candidates  is  concerned.  The  present  methods  came  into  use 
when  the  conception  and  ideals  of  training  for  foreign  mis- 
sionary work  were  that  it  should  be  identical  with  that  of  the 
pastor  at  home.  In  fact,  we  thought  of  our  foreign  mission- 
aries as  ordained  ministers  who  were  to  do  work  on  the  for- 
eign mission  field  in  the  same  way  that  it  was  being  done  at 
home.  The  following  paragraph  from  "Missionary  Papers" 
(page  260),  by  Dr.  John  C.  Lowrey,  illustrates  my.  point : 

The  principal  idea  is  that  candidates  should  be  educated  like  other 
ministers  so  far  as  college  and  seminary  studies  are  concerned,  their 
support  (during  training)  should  be  provided  in  the  same  way,  either 
by  themselves  and  their  friends,  or. by  the  aid  of  our  Educational 
Board.  In  all  respects  they  ought  to  be  men  of  the  same  cliaracter, 
attainments  and  social  position  with  their  clerical  brothers  at  home, 
equally  (|ualified  for  work,  enjoying  the  esteem  of  associates  who  are 
pastors  of  the  churches. 

146 


The   Mi.s.si<>uiiry  Cnndidntc   and   llie   Caudidate   Seorelary 

With  that  conception  the  methods  of  training  then  in  use 
were  satisfactory.  The  foreign  missionary  candidate  was  be- 
ing trained  for  his  work  in  accordance  with  the  ideals  as  to 
what  was  best  for  In'm.  Men  were  examined  as  to  their  fit- 
ness for  the  gospel  ministry  l:)y  the  proper  ecclesiastical  body, 
and  their  training  was  carried  out  under  the  direction  of  this 
same  ecclesiastical  authority.  .  If  they  decided  to  become  for- 
eign missionaries,  all  that  was  necessary  was  for  the  Foreign 
Mission  Board  to  examine  them,  as  to  health,  ability  to  learn 
language,  etc.,  and  send  them  out  without  regard  to  their  need 
of  special  training  which  might  be  required  by  the  work  and 
the  field  to  which  they  were  assigned. 

In  discussing  this  subject  at  a  meeting  of  the  F>oard  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation  in  igi2.  Dr.  James  L.  Barton  said: 

Pardon  a  reference  to  my  own  case.  When  I  went  into  the  mission 
field  in  the  Turkish  Empire  I  never  had  a  word  said  to  me  by  the  mis- 
sionary society  in  regard  to  my  preparation — not  a  word.  I  had  never 
heard  a  lecture  or  read  a  book  on  Mohammedanism,  and  I  was  sent 
to  Turkey.  I  knew  nothing  of  missionary  work  in  Turkey  except  as 
I  hunted  for  and  found  some  books  on  Turkey  after  I  had  been 
appointed.  And  I  think  that  if  we  should  investigate  the  missionaries 
that  went  out  up  to  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  we  should  find,  that, 
apart  from  the  work  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  as  far  as 
the  mission  board  was  concerned  they  had  received  no  equipment  for 
their  work  and  but  little  suggestion  except  as  they  asked  for  it 
from  the  missionary  societies  as  to  what  equipment  was  required  for 
the  work  in  the  field. 

But  if  we  are  to  trust  the  judgment  of  the  missionaries  now 
in  active  service,  and  the  conclusions  which  have  been  reached 
by  the  Commission  on  Preparation  of  Missionaries  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference,  by  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prepara- 
tion, and  the  reports  of  conferences  which  come  to  us  from 
the  mission  field,  the  most  notable  of  which  are  expressed 
in  the  findings  of  the  Continuation  Committee  Conferences 
held  in  Asia  in  1912-13,  these  methods  do  not  meet  the  present 
requirements.  The  work  has  now  reached  a  stage  where  more 
specific  training  is  required.  To  say  this  is  not.  to  disparage 
the  missionaries  or  the  work  which  has  gone  before.  Rather 
it  is  a  commendation  of  their  wonderful  success  under  God 
as  wise  and  successful  master-builders.  What  greater  tribure 
can  be  paid  tO'  a  missionary  than  to  say  that  his  successor 
must  have  better  preparation  than  he  himself  had. 

For  the  ordained  man,  no  longer  will  the  training  for  the 
pastorate  at  home  suflfice ;  there  are  calls  for  teachers,  who 
must  be  prepared  to  do  work  in  various  branches ;  there  are 
foal's  for  medical  men  who  must  be  prepared  to  do  different 
kinds  of  medical  work,  and  other  lay  workers  are  called  for, 

147 


Tlie    >lisHioii:iry   ('iiiMliilalo   iind   the   C'niiiliilsitc    Sooretary 

who  have  been  .s|)ecifically  trained  for  the  task  to  which  they 
are  to  be  assigned.^ 

The  insistent  demand  for  specialists  makes  the  i)roblem  of 
selecting  the  candidate  more  difiicull.  We  must  look  not  only 
for  the  same  qualities  of  piety,  personal  knowledge  of  Christ, 
and  adequate  motive,  but  we  must  also  find -candidates  who 
have  specialized  in  a  way  to  fit  themselves  for  the  s])ecific 
work  which  they  are  to  do.  It  is  more  difficult  to  be  sure  of 
these  essential  fundamental  (jualities  when  we  are  on  the  con- 
stant lookout  for  the  highly  si)ccialized  workers.  Has  not  the 
problem  to  a  large  extent  resolved  itself  into  one  of  keeping 
up  the  great  institution  which  has  been  created  on  the  mission 
field  ?  The  tendency  in  all  institutions  is  to  demand  the  worker 
who  can  do  the  work  necessary  to  keep  the  machinery  going. 
The  machine  must  be  kept  moving.  Therefore,  the  I'oards  find 
themselves  laboring  under  the  pressure  to  send  out  workers 
who  can  do  the  professional  work  required  to  keep  the  insti- 
tution in  running  order. 

This  demand  puts  pressure  on  the  Boards  to  waive  to  some 
extent  the  importance  of  certain  fundamental  qualifications 
of  motive  and  earnestness  of  pur])ose  to  become  active,  ag- 
gressive spiritual  leaders,  provided  the  candidates  have  the 
professional  qualifications.  Our  Boards  have  not  created  this 
situation — the  very  success  of  the  work  on  the  field  has  created 
it.  And  it  is  from  the  mission  fields  thai  this  demand  for 
highly  trained  "workers  has  come. 

Another  tendency  of  this  emphasis  on  specialization  inevi- 
tably results  in  pressure  on  the  candidate  to  secure  profes- 
sional cjualifications  even  at  the  expense  of  his  growth  in  the 
spiritual  qualifications.  The  danger  is  that  he  lose  sight  of 
the  missionary  preparation  in  attempting  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  professional  qualifications.  And  some  of  the 
openings  for  service  on  the  mission  field  look  so  attractive 
from  the  professional  point  of  view  that  men  who  do  not 
have  the  fundamental  motive  for  foreign  missionary  service 
apply  for  appointment.  This  is  seen  in  its  worst  form  in  edu- 
cational work,  and  there  is  increasing  danger  of  it  in  other 
forms  of  work — notably  the  medical. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  believe  that  we  can  work  out  a 
system  of  dealing  with  candidates  which  will  solve  all  our 
problems.  The  foreign  missionary  enterprise  is  a  "going  con- 
cern," and  a  "going  concern''  is  never  stable  or  fixed.  In  all 
living,  growing  movements  there  are  inevitable  expansions  and 
contractions ;  and  methods  must  be  varied  in  order  to  meet 

'  Sec  "Preparation  of  Missionaries,"  Vol.  V,  World  Missionary  Conference, 
igio;  ihc  Kcports  of  the  Board  of  .Missionary  Preparation  especially  Volumes 
JII,  IV,  V  and  VI;  and  the  Reports  of  the  Continuation  Committee  Conferences 
in   Asia,    1912-13. 

148 


The   MisHumary  ('anditlnfc   an«l   the  Canilirtaie   Soorefary 

ever-changing  concHlions.  luirlhermore,  missionary  organiza- 
tions are  dealing  with  men  and  women.  Living  personalities 
cannot  be  handled  like  machines. 

The  ideal  toward  which  we  look  should  result : 

1.  In  a  supply  of  qualified  candidates  which  will  be  ade- 
quate not  only  for  the  demand  of  the  Board  on  the  basis 
of  their  present  income,  but  which  will  serve  also  as  an  incen- 
tive and  a  spur  to  the  Church  to  make  greater  efforts  and 
larger  sacrifices  year  after  year  in  order  to  meet  the  growing 
needs  on  the  mission  field. 

2.  In  an  adequate  i)re])aration  for  all  candidates  who  are 
accepted  and  commissioned  as  foreign  missionaries. 

3.  In  saving  for  foreign  mission  work  many  yoimg  men 
and  women  now  lost  to  the  work  because  of  our  methods  of 
dealing  with  candidates. 

4.  In  turning  into  other  forms  of  Christian  activity  ap|)li- 
cants  who  in  the  judgment  of  the  Board  will  not  render  their 
best  service  on  the  foreign  mission  field.  This  should  l)e  done 
before  they  have  wasted  time  in  their  attempt  to  fit  themselves 
for  the  work  for  which  they  will  never  be  accepted. 

Such  an  ideal  cannot  even  be  a])proached  unless  the  Uoards 
adopt  a  more  adequate  method  of  dealing  with  all  young  men 
and  women  who  believe  that  (iod  has  called  them  to  the  for- 
eign mission  field.  I  propose  the  following  suggestions  to  thi.s 
end : 

1.  A  Board  should  adopt  a  clear-cut  standard  as  to  the 
qualifications  and  preparation,  which  ■mill  be  required  of  can- 
didates. This  should  be  so  carefully  worked  out  and  put  into 
such  form  that  there  will  be  no  reason  for  uncertainty  on  the 
part  of  the  young  men  and  young  women  as  to  the  conditions 
they  must  comply  with  if  they  are  to  be  accepted  and  sent  out 
by  the  Board. 

In  working  out  such  a  standard  of  requirements  the  re- 
sults of  the  studies  and  investigations  made  by  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Preparation  will  be  available.  In  fact,  the  Board 
of  Preparation  will  fail  in  one  of  the  objects  for  which  it  was 
called  into  existence  if  the  Mission  Boards  do  not  translate 
into  realities  the  ideals  which  the  Board  of  Preparation  has 
put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Mission  Boards. 

2.  After  the  adoption  of  such  a  standard,  the  Board  should 
deifise  methods  of  inakinc/  it  effective  in  the  training  of  its 
candidates.  If  this  be  done,  the  following  seems  to  me  to  be 
necessary : 

a.  The  investigation  and  study  of  all  applicants  should  be 
begtm  as  soon  as  their  names  come  to  the  attention  of  the 
Boards,  regardless  of  stage  of  advancement  in  preparation. 

b.  These  investigations  will  show  in  due  time  whether  or 

149 


i'iie   liissioiinry  rnii(li«inte  nnd  the  Caiulidale   Seet'etnrj' 

not  the  applicants  have  the  essential  native  qualifications  for 
foreign  missionary  service.  If  they  have  not  they  should  be 
eliminated  from  the  list  of  possible  candidates.  If  they  seem 
to  have  the  qualifications,  then  a  study  of  each  person  should 
be  made,  so  that  he  may  be  directed  to  the  courses  of  study 
and  preparation  which  will  prepare  him  for  the  kind  of  work 
for  which  he  has  the  native  capacities.  In  our  efi^ort  to  secure 
an  adequate  supply  of  qualified  candidates  it  should  never  be 
forgotten  that  we  have  a  responsibility  to  the  individual  men 
and  women  who  come  before  the  Boards.  They  should  under- 
stand that  the  Boards  are  not  preventing  them  from  going  to 
the  mission  field,  but  are  seeking  not  only  to  secure  the  work- 
ers needed  for  the  mission  field,  but  to  help  all  applicants  to 
find  that  place  in  God's  kingdom  where  they  are  best  fitted  to 
serve  Him.  Approached  in  this  way,  there  should  be  fewer 
so-called  "disappointed  candidates."  This  should  be  done  as 
soon  as  possible  after  the  candidate  comes  to  the  attention  of 
the  Board,  and  should  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  primary  func- 
tions of  the  candidate  department  of  the  Board. 

c.  Reports  should  be  required  from  the  applicants  from 
time  to  time  during  each  year  they  are  under  the  care  of  the 
Board.  Reports  also  should  be  secured  from  the  instructors 
under  whom  they  are  working. 

d.  This  process  continued  throughout  the  period  of  prep- 
aration will  give  the  Board  a  knowledge  of  the  men  and 
women  who  in  due  time  will  come  up  for  appointment,  which 
the  present  method  cannot  possibly  yield.  It  will  prove  to  be 
a  most  efifective  method  of  testing  their  fitness  for  the  work 
and  will  result  in  adequate  and  specific  preparation  for  the 
work  to  which  they  will  be  assigned.  The  work  to  be  done 
should  determine  the  training.  We  accept  this  principle  for 
the  work  in  the  homeland:  if  a  man  is  to  become  a  lawyer,  we 
expect  him  to  be  trained  for  the  law ;  if  he  is  to  become  a  drug- 
gist, he  should  be  trained  for  the  drug  business,  etc.  Why  not 
apply  the  same  principle  to  the  work  in  the  mission  field? 
If  he  is  to  work  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  manifestly  the  train- 
ing should  dififer  in  many  respects  from  that  which  is  necessary 
for  work  in  centers  like  Calcutta,  or  Peking — not  less  thor- 
ough, but  adapted  to  the  needs  of  his  field. 

3.  The  Boards  should  knozu  thoroughly  the  schools  where 
missioTiaries  are  trained  and  the  courses  ztrhich  are  offered  in 
those  schools  in  order  to  advise  their  candidates  intelligently 
where  they  may  secure  the  training  which  will  best  fit  them  for 
the  field  and  work  to  which  they  have  been  assigned.  Some 
institutions,  which  are  admirably  adapted  for  some  candidates, 
are  very  unsatisfactory  for  others.  And  some  candidates  will 
find  it  necessary  to  take  courses  in  more  than  one  institution. 

ISO 


The    miNSiioniir.v   f':iiiiii«lii(«>   :iii<l   (lie   Candidate   Seeretary 

4.  A  policy  should  be  zvorkcd  out  for  financing  the  educa- 
tion of  approved  candidates.  The  necessity  for  this  is  ad- 
mitted by  all  the  denominations  in  regard  to  men  preparing; 
for  the  ministry.  In  some  denominations  men  who  are  pre- 
paring for  work  as  ordained  men  on  the  foreign  field  are 
helped  because  they  look  forward  to  work  as  ministers  not 
because  they  are  to  go  as  missionaries.  Men  and  women  pre- 
paring for  medical  work  abroad  are  not  adequately  provided 
for.  Some  denominations  help  men  who  are  medical  candi- 
dates, but  very  little  help  is  available  for  women.  And  in  all 
cases  the  sums  allowed  medical  candidates  are  not  sufficient. 
These  allowances  are  fixed  to  meet  the  expense  of  the  theo- 
logical student  who  has  no  tuition  or  room  rent  to  pay  and 
who  in  many  cases  can  supplement  this  allowance  by  addi- 
tional sums  earned  doing  church  work.  The  allowance  for 
medical  candidates  should  cover  the  same  items ;  tuition  in 
medical  school  and  room  rent,  plus  the  allowance  now  given  to 
theological  students. 

Every  Board  is  in  need  of  medical  candidates,  and  the  situ- 
ation grows  worse.  No  relief  is  possible  until  adequate  finan- 
cial assistance  is  provided  for  men  and  women  preparing  for 
medical  work,  and  the  allowances  must  be  sufficiently  liberal 
to  conserve  health  and  enable  them  to  do  efficient  work. 

5.  Plans  should  be  worked  out  by  which  the  Board  will 
have  a  policy  for  sending  out  a  given  number  of  new  mission- 
aries each  year  for  a  period  of  years — a  definite  number  be 
decided  upon  for  different  countries  and  phases  of  zvork,  e.  g., 
ordained,  medical,  etc.  This  would  not  seem  to  be  an  impos- 
sible proposal.  If  each  Board  were  to  work  out  its  plan  for 
the  future  on  the  basis  of  what  it  has  been  able  to  do  in  the 
past,  some  estimate  could  be  arrived  at  by  which  it  could  set 
an  approximate  standard  as  to  the  number  to  be  sent  out  dur- 
ing the  next  period  of  years. 

The  law  of  supply  and  demand  is  operative  here  as  in  other 
callings.  When  a  Board  has  no  clear-cut  program  as  to  what 
it  proposes  to  do,  it  cannot  deal  with  applicants  in  a  way  to 
mspire  confidence.  The  Board  must  have  methods  which  will 
enable  the  secretary  to  act  with  some  degree  of  despatch  in 
dealing  with  applicants,  so  as  not  to  leave  them  in  doubt  so 
long  after  they  make  application. 

6.  Boards  should  work  out  plans  which  zmll  do  aivay  zvith 
divided  responsibilities  between  the  Board  at  home  and  the 
administration  on  the  foreign  Held.  At  the  present  time  many 
Boards  seem  to  be  bound  by  rules  or  precedents  which  make 
it  impossible  to  deal  authoritatively  with  applicants.  I  do  not 
undertake  to  say  how  these  difficulties  may  be  overcome,  but  I 
am  convinced  that  under  the  present  demand   for  men  and 

151 


The   MiNNion:iry   CaiKlidalo   and   llie   Caiiili«lu<e   Secretary 

women  for  specific  work  the  Board  must  be  in  a  position  to 
speak  witli  authority  when  dealing  with  the  applicants,  and  this 
divided  responsibility  in  some  way  avoided. 

7.  If  a  Board  is  to  carry  out  an  adequate  policy  of  dealing 
with  its  candidates  it  means  the  appointment  of  an  officer  zvho 
will  make  this  work  his  primary  responsibility. 

For  many  Boards  this  work  will  be  sufficiently  heavy  to  re- 
quire full  time  of  a  Secretary  with  such  clerical  assistance  as 
may  be  necessary.  For  the  Boards  which  do  not  require  the 
full  time  of  a  Secretary  to  care  adequately  for  its  candidates, 
he  should  be  expected  to  make  the  candidate  work  his  first 
responsibility.  And  if  anything  is  to  be  neglected  it  should  not 
be  the  work  wath  the  candidates.  I  do  not  believe  that  we 
shall  ever  bring  the  candidate  work  up  to  the  point  where  there 
will  be  an  approximate  balance  of  the  supply  and  demand 
without  such  a  Secretary.  So  much  importance  do  I  attach 
to  his  work  that  I  shall  venture  to  present  in  some  detail  my 
conception  of  his  function  and  work. 

a.  He  should  be  a  Secretary  in  full  standing — not  an  as- 
sistant or  a  clerk — btit  an  officer  having  all  the  authority  and 
prestige  which  goes  with  the  office  of  a  Secretary  of  his  Board. 

b.  .So  far  as  relationship  in  the  organization  of  the  Board 
is  concerned,  I  believe  he  should  be  related  to  the  Department 
of  Foreign  Administration.  If  he  is  to  meet  his  responsibility 
to  candidates,  he  must  be  familiar  with  the  work  in  every  mis- 
sion field — even  to  the  details  of  work  in  the  different  stations. 
Without  such  knowledge  he  will  be  unable  to  interpret  the 
work  on  the  field  to  candidates  on  the  basis  of  progressive  and 
changing  needs  in  different  missions,  and  to  advise  them  as  to 
preparation  necessary.  He  will  not  be  able  to  keep  abreast  of 
these  i)roblems  and  render  the  helpful  advice  to  the  candidates 
if  his  time  and  attention  are  occupied  with  the  intensely  ab- 
sorbing work  of  the  cultivation  of  the  home  churches  and 
plans  for  raising  the  annual  budgets  of  the  Board. 

c.  He  should  be  an  authority  on  the  present  and  future  de- 
mands of  the  Board's  Missions  in  different  countries.  This 
knowledge  must  be  intimate  and  detailed,  as  to  the  probable 
growth  and  expansion  of  the  work  in  all  stations  of  the  differ- 
ent missions,  including  probable  retirements  of  missionaries 
and  increases  in  the  staff,  and  the  new  workers  which  will  be 
needed  in  the  future  and  the  character  of  work  which  they 
will  be  expected  to  undertake.  He  must  be  so  far  ahead  in 
knowledge  of  this  kind  that  he  can  advise  candidates  in  the 
early  stages  of  their  preparation  on  the  basis  of  work  which 
will  open  some  years  ahead. 

d.  He  should  be  an  authority  on  the  problems  of  prepara- 
tion; one  who  is  fully  able  to  advise  candidates  as  to  courses 

152 


The   l>lisMioiinry   rnndhlntc   ami  tlie   Candidate   Seeretary 

which  will  fit  thein  for  different  j^hases  of  work,  for  work  in 
dift'erent  countries;  and  the  special  preparation  required  for 
work  among  people  of  different  religions. 

e.  He  should  be  familiar  with  the  schools  at  which  mission- 
aries are  to  be  trained.  Not  only  the  theological  seminaries 
and  colleges  and  training  schools  of  his  own  denomination, 
but  other  institutions  which  are  equipped  to  train  missionaries 
for  dift'erent  kinds  of  work.  He  must  know  where  the  best 
courses  on  different  subjects  are  being  offered,  and  the  charac- 
teristics of  different  institutions. 

/.  He  should  be  familiar  with  the  supply  of  candidates 
and  in  due  time  should  become  personally  acquainted  with  the 
men  and  women  in  process  of  training.  This  knowledge  will 
help  to  prevent  many  of  the  mistakes  which  are  made  in  put- 
ting square  men  into  round  holes,  and  will  enable  him  to 
know  where  to  find  candidates  when  emergencies  arise  on  the 
field. 

g.  He  should  become  an  exjiert  on  vocational  guidance, 
helping  applicants  to  decide  for  what  kind  of  work  they  should 
prei)are — evangelistic,  medical,  educational,  etc.  He  will  also 
develop  the  capacity  of  turning  men  and  women  into  active 
Christian  service  at  home  who  are  not  fitted  and  can  never 
be  fitted  for  foreign  missionary  service. 

h.  It  goes  without  saying  that  such  a  secretary  should 
recognize  in  this  work  a  God-given  opportunity  to  serve  the 
Kingdom  through  the  men  and  women  with  whose  training 
for  missionary  service  he  will  have  so  much  to  do. 

It  may  be  objected  that  I  have  ])resented  an  impossible  ideal. 
It  is  my  conviction,  however,  that  when  our  Boards"  set  them- 
selves to  the  solution  of  this  problem,  it  will  be  found  that 
what  I  have  said  is  far  from  adequate.  Then  it  will  be  seen 
how  great  the  work  and  wonderful  the  opportunity  for  service 
which  the  office  of  Candidate  Secretary  holds  for  the  men  and 
women  who  enter  upon  it  with  a  sense  of  mission  and  refuse 
to  be  turned  aside  from  it. 

Some  may  object  to  the  proposal  because  of  the  expense — 
and  to  do  properly  what  I  have  suggested  will  increase  the  ex- 
pense of  administration.  But  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that 
money  expended  in  securing,  training  and  testing  missionary 
candidates  before  they  are  sent  to  the  field  will  save  money 
later.  If  we  can  reduce  the  number  of  misfits  and  conse- 
quently the  number  obliged  to  return  home,  and  produce 
greater  and  more  satisfactory  results  on  the  mission  field,  the 
money  spent  in  maintaining  an  efficiently  conducted  work  for 
candidates  will  be  wisely  used. 


153 


Chart  I 
NEW  MISSIONARIES  SENT  OUT,  1903-1916 


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154 


Chart  II 
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155 


Chart  III 
WOiMEN  MISSIONARIES  SENT  OUT,   1903-1916 


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IS6 


Chart  IV 

Total    Missionariks    Sent    Out    i;v    thk    VaivMoi:s    Denominational 
American  and  Canadian  Boards  and  Societies,  1903-1916 

Men                     190,3         1904        1905  1906  1907  1908  1909 

Ordained     129           140           109  107  125  125  105 

Laymen    68            70            63  42  66  71  68 

Doctors    37             26            21  31  18  29  27 

Y.   M.   C.   A.....       s              8            14  II  8  14  16 

Total  239    244    207  191  217  239  216 

IVomcn 

Unmarried  160    t68    171  145  176  182  186 

Married  127    160    129  124  122  148  .140 

Doctors  14      9     12  10  4  5  4 

Y.  W.  C.  A 4      o      3  3  o  4  3 

Total  305     T,T,7          315  ^^^  302  339  333 

Grand  Total  ..  544    581     522  473  519  578  549 


iMcii                     1910  T911  1912  1913  1914  1915  1916 

Ordained  93  159  '55  85  89  88  103 

Laymen  100  104  116  91  92  81  160 

Doctors  28  28  25  31  17  30  20 

Y.  M.   C.  A T,s  30  39  SO  -5  i'"^  25 

Total     254  321     ~     335  257  223  217  308 

ll'oincii 

Unmarried    20S  277  269  225  164  213  238 

Married    145  207  197  118  136  159  210 

Doctors    5  9  -^  II  5  10  4 

Y.  W.   C.  A 5  4  9  9  3  TO  12 

Total     3,63  497  477  363  308  392  464 

Grand  Total   ..   617  818  812  620  531  609  772 


157 


CHINA  INLAND  MISSION'S  METHOD  OF 
DEALING  WITH  CANDIDATES ' 

By  Rev.  Henry  W.  Frost,  Director 

In  this  paper  are  set  forth  the  methods  which  the  China 
Inland  Mission  has  adopted  for  use  in  dealing  with  its  candi- 
dates. Much  of  what  is  stated  has  no  application  apart  from 
our  own  work.  The  China  Inland  Mission,  being  interde- 
nominational in  character  and  believing  in  the  use  of  not  only 
ordained  men,  but  also  of  those  who  are  not  ordained,  occupies 
a  unique  position,  and,  hence,  some  of  its  methods  are  peculiar 
and  non-applicable  to  Missions  otherwise  situated.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  paper,  therefore,  is  not  to  erect  an  ideal  which  is 
supposed  to  constitute  a  general  standard  or  to  hold  up  a 
pattern  which  is  believed  should  be  universally  copied ;  it  is 
simply  to  describe  a  system  which  has  proved  valuable  to  this 
Mission  and  which  may  prove  at  least  suggestive  to  those 
interested  in  the  subject  of  missionary  methods. 

The  China  Inland  Mission,  in  seeking  for  candidates,  rarely 
makes  direct  solicitation  for  offers  of  service.  It  takes  this 
course,  first,  because  it  does  not  desire  to  divert  from  the  regu- 
lar denominational  channels  any  men  or  women  who  should 
naturally  and  rightfully  offer  to  the  IWjards;  and,  second,  be- 
cause it  prefers  to  deal  only  with  those  with  whom  the  Lord 
has  especially  dealt  in  respect  to  the  Mission  in  order  to  make 
sure  that  those  who  offer  to  us  are  such  as  God  Himself  would 
have  united  with  us.  The  Mission  holds  public  meetings 
and  circulates  literature,  and  by  these  means  it  presents  in 
a  general  way  the  need  of  sei'vice  in  China ;  but  here  it  stops, 
waiting  for  individuals  to  take  the  first  step  in  offering  to  it. 
This  procedure,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  seems  to  have 
received  the  divine  blessing,  for  the  Mission  in  past  years  has 
received  a  large  number  of  applications  from  both  men  and 
women,  and  has  been  permitted  to  select  from  these  a  consider- 
able number  of  well-qualified  missionaries,  our  existing  mem- 
bership at  home  and  abroad  numbering  now  a  total  of  1,050 
persons.  Among  these  missionaries  there  have  been  some  who 
hav-e  passed  through  colleges  and  seminaries,  a  lesser  number 
who  have  had  medical  training,  and  more  who  have  had  a 
high  school  education,  together  with  a  thorough  training  in 
the  English  Bible. 

A  candidate  having  offered  to  the  Mission  either  in  person 
or  in  writing,  is  requested  to  read — in  order  to  inform  himself 

^  A  paper  read  at  a  conference  of  candidate  secretaries  held  in  New  York  by  tlie 
Student    Volunteer    Movement. 


China   Inland   Mission's   ]>le(liod  o£  Dealing   willi   Caudidates 

concerning  the  Mission — the  following  books :  "The  Hand- 
book of  the  China  Inland  Mission" ;  "A  Retrospect,"  by  Rev. 
J.  Hudson  Taylor;  "The  History  of  the  China  Inland  Mis- 
sion," by  Marshall  Broomhall, "  M.A.,  and  "The  Spiritual 
Condition  of  the  Heathen,"  by  Henry  W.  Frost.  At  the 
same  time  the  applicant  is  asked  to  prepare  a  letter  in  his  own 
handwriting  and  phraseology,  which  will  give  the  following 
information:  name,  address,  age,  occupation,  general  physical 
condition,  degree  and  kind  of  education,  time  and  manner  of 
conversion,  opportunities  realized  for  systematic  Bible  vStudy 
and  for  active  Christian  service,  length  of  time  that  service 
abroad  has  been  in  mind,  motive  for  offering  for  work  in 
China,  any  obstacles  which  may  exist,  and  such  further  ])ar- 
ticular  information  as  may  help  to  give  a  full  and  clear  view 
of  the  case.  When  this  letter  is  received,  if  the  case  is  prom- 
ising, two  papers  are  sent  to  the  candidate ;  first,  the  "Prin- 
ciples and  Practise  of  the  China  Inland  Mission" — which  sets 
forth  under  fourteen  articles  what  the  Mission  represents  and 
requires — and  second,  "The  Question  Paper,"  which  enquires 
fully  and  particularly  concerning  the  details  of  the  applicant's 
lif€  and  service.  When  these  papers  have  been  returned,  duly 
filled  out,  they  are  carefully  studied  by  the  Mission  Officials  in 
order  that  it  may  be  determined,  up  to  this  point,  if  any 
obstacles  exist.  In  the  event  of  the  case  being  considered 
favorable,  a  "Physical  Examination  Paper"  is  sent  to  the  can- 
didate, a  part  of  which  he  fills  out  and  the  rest  of  which  is 
filled  in  by  a  physical  examiner  of  the  applicant's  own  choos- 
ing. This  paper  is  then  returned  to  us,  and,  if  it  presents  any 
doubtful  aspects,  it  is  presented  to  the  Mission's  examining 
physician  for  his  advice.  In  case  the  correspondence  is  still 
favorable,  a  "Doctrinal  Paper"  is  sent  to  the  candidate,  with 
the  request  that  he  fill  out  the  answers  to  its  seven  leading 
questions  in  his  own  phraseolog}^  with  proof  texts  attached. 
As  the  Mission  is  interdenominational,  the  cpestions  asked  do 
not  touch  upon  the  subjects  of  the  ordinances  or  of  church 
government;  but,  as  the  Mission  is  strictly  evangelical,  they 
require  replies  in  respect  to  all  of  the  fundamentals  of  the 
Christian  faith.  This  paper,  when  it  is  received,  is  given 
very  careful  and  prayerful  consideration,  the  Mission  deem- 
ing it  highly  important  that  only  those  should  be  accepted 
for  sei-vice  who  will  present  to  the  Chinese  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  in  its  fulness  and  purity.  In  the  event  of  the  "Doctrinal 
Paper"  proving  satisfactory,  there  is  sent  to  the  candidate  a 
"Referee  Paper,"  which  asks  for  the  names  of  five  referees, 
inclusive  of  the  applicant's  pastor.  When  this  paper  has  been 
received,  "Referee  Blanks"  are  sent  to  the  persons  whose 
names  have  been  given.     In  due  course,  these  papers  being 

159 


China    Iiil:iiii1    >lisNioii'.s   ]\lo<lio«I   of   noiilinv:   wHli   Candidates 

returned,  the  replies  are  closely  examined.  When  the  Mission 
has  reached  this  point,  it  has  come  to  the  end  of  its  examina- 
tion of  the  candidate  by  means  of  correspondence.  It  may  be 
added,  in  usual  circumstances,  that  no  haste  has  been  taken  in 
pursuing  the  correspondence,  but  on  the  contrary,  that  it  has 
been  purposely  len^i^thened  out  so  as  to  secure  the  two  ends 
of  usinj:^  the  utmost  care  and  of  testing  the  prayerfulness, 
patience  and  steadfastness  of  the  applicant. 

In  case  the  correspondence  with  the  candidate,  in  whole  and 
in  detail,  has  proved  satisfactory  to  the  Mission  officials,  a 
letter  is  sent  to  the  applicant  asking  him  to  come  to  the  Mis- 
sion Home — either  at  Toronto  or  Germantown — for  a  resi- 
dence of  a  month  or  more.  This  course  is  taken  for  four 
several  and  separate  reasons :  first,  that  the  candidate  may  be 
physically  examined  by  the  Mission  physician ;  second,  that  he 
may  be  tested  in  the  study  of  the  Chinese  language,  the  214 
radicals  and  four  to  six  lessons  in  Bailer's  Primer  being  taught 
by  a  returned  missionary  who  ma\'  be  resident  in  the  Home ; 
third,  that  he  may  become  fully  and  closely  acquainted  with 
all  the  Mission  stands  for  both  at  home  and  abroad;  and 
finally,  that  the  officials  of  the  Mission  may  become  personally 
and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  individual.  This  residence 
in  the  Home  constitutes  the  final  test  which  is  made  in  each 
case,  and,  while  the  correspondence  has  been  thorough,  this  is 
no  less  than  drastic.  The  candidate  is  made  to  feel  at  home, 
and  he  is  left — apart  from  his  Chinese  studies — to  live  out  his 
own  life  as  is  ])leasing  to  himself;  but  all  of  the  time  those 
who  are  in  charge  of  the  Home  are  (|uietl\-  studying  his  char- 
acter, from  every  possible  standjioint,  and  are  seeking  to 
determine  whether  the  stranger  in  their  midst  is  truly  called 
and  prepared  by  the  Spirit  for  the  im])ortant  service  which  he 
desires  to  render.  If  at  any  time  during  the  month  it  is  con- 
cluded that  the  candidate  is  not  pre])ared  for  life  and  work  in 
China  he  is  told  this  as  sympathetically  as  possible,  but  frankly 
and  positively,  and  arrangements  are  made  for  his  returning 
to  his  home.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  commends  himself  to  all 
concerned,  a  meeting  of  the  Mission  Council  is  called,  these 
brethren  review  the  corresjiondencc  in  the  case,  they  have  an 
interview  and  prayer  with  the  candidate,  and  such  a  decision 
is  reached  as  seems  to  be  indicated  by  the  guidance  of  the 
Lord.  In  this  last  case,  if  the  candidate  is  accepted,  he  is 
told  this,  arrangements  are  made  for  him  to  return  to  his 
home,  the  matters  of  dentistry,  vaccination  and  outfit  are  ulti- 
mately attended  to,  and  finally,  arrangements  are  made  for  his 
departure,  together  with  other  accepted  candidates,  for  China. 
It  may  be  well  to  add  that  a  missionarx^  thus  chosen  goes  to 
the  field  with  the  understanding  that  he  is  a  probationer  for 

160 


China  Inland  Mission's  Metliod  of  Dealing  Tvitli   Candidates 

two  years,  and,  that  at  the  end  of  that  time,  the  Mission  will 
have  the  privilege  of  reviewing  his  case,  on  the  basis  of  his 
language  examination  and  the  success  of  his  service.  For  the 
first  winter  in  China  the  candidate  is  required  to  reside  and 
pursue  his  studies  in  one  of  the  Training  Homes  which  have 
been  established  in  the  interior. 

It  may  be  helpful  to  say,  in  respect  to  all  of  the  above,  that 
the  course  which  has  been  outlined  has  proved  most  profit- 
able both  from  the  standpoint  of  the  candidate  and  from  that 
of  the  Mission.  As  related  to  the  candidate,  it  has  assisted  him 
in  discovering  the  will  of  God  concerning  himself,  and  many 
have  been  the  men  and  women  who  have  thanked  us  for  our 
thorough  dealings  with  them,  even  though  such  has  meant 
rejection;  and  as  related  to  the  Mission,  it  has  gone  far  to 
eliminate  those  who  were  not  spiritually  worthy,  or,  if  worthy, 
were  not  physically  or  educationally  prepared  for  the  service 
in  view.  The  single  part  of  the  process  of  requiring  a  test 
in  the  study  of  the  Chinese  language  has  proved  highly  bene- 
ficial, for  it  has  saved  the  Mission  thousands  of  dollars  by 
setting  those  aside  who,  whatever  their  education,  did  not  have 
retentive  memories  and  did  not  possess  what  is  known  as  "the 
linguistic  knack."  In  particular,  the  requirement  which  the 
Mission  makes  of  residence  in  the  Home  has  proved  of  inesti- 
mable value,  for  it  has  not  only  given  opportunity  to  base  de- 
cisions upon  close  acquaintanceship,  but  also  it  has  brought 
the  candidate,  in  critical  days,  under  quieting  and  strength- 
ening influences,  which  have  gone  far  to  prepare  him  for  the 
severe  ordeal  of  life  and  service  in  China. 

Allow  me  to  state,  finally,  that  the  China  Inland  Mission,  in 
dealing  with  candidates,  puts  emphasis  upon  the  spiritual 
rather  than  upon  the  higher  educational.  This  does  not  mean 
that  the  Mission  does  not  value  higher  education,  for  it  recog- 
nizes that  this  is  always  helpful,  and,  for  some  work  in  China, 
absolutely  necessary;  but  it  does  mean  that  it  is  deeply  con- 
vinced, whether  the  education  be  less  or  more,  that  spirituality 
is  simply  indispensable  to  a  successful  missionary  service.  Its 
method  of  dealing  with  candidates,  therefore,  has  this  end  in 
view  and  is  so  devised  as  to  permit  this  being  made  the  central 
and  final  test  of  consideration  and  acceptance.  In  other  words, 
the  Mission  has  for  its  object  the  securing  of  missionaries,  of 
men  and  women  who  are  spirit-filled,  which  in  its  estimation 
stands  for  persons  who  are  devoted  to  the  person  of  Christ, 
who  are  students  of  the  Word  and  are  prayerful  in  Spirit, 
and  who  are  constantly  sane,  humble,  loving,  sacrificial  and 
steadfast.  Such  missionaries,  we  have  good  reason  to  know, 
will  be  used  of  God  in  saving  souls,  and  even  in  testing  times 
will  never  be  put  to  shame. 

i6i 


INDEX 


A 

Administration,     Candidate     Department, 

19-26. 
Age  limit,  49. 

Anderson,  W.  B.,  discussion,  77. 
Atwater,  Mrs.  A.  R.,  place  of  special  schools 

in  training  of  candidates,  85-88. 


Barton,  J.  L.,  147;  responsibility  of  boards 
in  securing  qualified  candidates,  101-103. 

Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  3d  page 
cover,  II,  77;  can  ideals  be  made  effec- 
tive? 130-137;  review  of  what  has  been 
accomplished,  124-130;  serving  boards, 
45.  77;  use  of  findings,  reports,  and 
literature,  78-85. 

Boards  of  Foreign  Missions,  making 
effective,  3S-41,  78,  79.  I33-I3S.  149 
et  sgq.:  securing  candidates,  101-103. 

Brown,  F.  L.,  discussion,  41. 

Bureau  of  Missionary  Statistics  and  Re- 
search, 2d  page  cover. 

Business  corporations,  methods  of  select- 
ing workers,  44;  56-61. 

C 

Calder,  Miss  H.  B.,  guiding  the  prospective 

candidate,  32-35. 
Calls  to  specified  positions,  65- 
Can  ideals  of  Board  of  Missionary  Prepa- 
ration as  to  preparation  of  candidates  be 
made  effective?  130-137. 
Canada,    effect    of    the    war    on    securing 

missionary  candidates,  92,  93. 
Candidates,  and  war  conditions,  11,  12; 
and  the  candidate  secretary,  32,  33, 
142-157;  correspondence  with,  42;  effect 
of  the  war  on  securing  of,  92-96;  guiding 
of  prospective,  32-35;  making  ideals  as 
to,  effective,  130-137;  methods  employed 
by  China  Inland  Mission  in  dealing  with, 
158-161;  not  accepted,  42;  physical 
qualifications,  50;  preparation,  54;  quali- 
fied, responsibility  of  boards  in  securing, 
101-103;  securing  of  better  prepared, 
80,  81;  selection  of,  10,  26,  35-41;  value 
of  rejected,  42;  selection  of,  for  special 
positions  on  mission  field,  68-73;  selec- 
tion of,  from  point  of  view  of  missionary 
on  field,  46-55;  selection  of,  from  point 
of  view  of  Student  Volunteer  at  home, 
61-68;  standards  for,  9,  131,  132,  I34. 
149;  training  of,  in  special  training 
schools,  85-91;  women,  and  the  war, 
96-100. 

Candidate  committee,  25,  26,  27,  33. 

Candidate  Department,  advantage  of,  27; 
importance  of,  16-19;  organization  and 
administration,  19-26,  68;  relation  to 
candidate,  32-45,  61,  108,  109,  136,  I37. 

Candidate  secretary,  22,  23,  25,  28,  31,  32, 
47,  61,  64,  108;  securing  of,  28,  30; 
methods  of,  57;  responsibility,  55,  and 
missionary  candidate,  32,  33,  I42-IS7' 

Charts,  154-157- 

China,  need  of  men  with  modern  outlook, 
49;  method  of  dealing  with  candidates  by 
Inland  Mission,  158-161. 

College  of  Missions,  88. 

Committee  of  reference  and  counsel,  3,  2d 
page  cover. 

Committee  on  Findings  of  Conference  on 


Missionary  candidates,  report,  9-12; 
members,  7,  12. 

Conference  of  Foreign  Missions,  officers  of, 
2. 

Co-operation  in  securing  and  training  can- 
didates, II. 

Corey,  S.  J.,  introductory  note,  5-9;  dis- 
cussion, 45,  84,  85,  89,  no. 

Cultivation  of  the  Home  Church  Com- 
mittee, 4. 

D 

de  Schweinitz,  P.,  discussion,  106. 

Discussions,  candidate  department,  26-31; 
relation  of  candidate  department  to 
candidate,  41-45;  selection  of  candidates, 
76-77;  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation, 
literature,  82-85;  securing  candidates, 
103-110;  soldiers  and  sailors  for  mis- 
sionary service,  121,  122. 

Donohugh,  T.  S.,  selecting  the  candidates, 
35-41;  discussion,  84,  90. 

E 

Eddy,  B.,  discussion,  103,  104,  106. 
Education  of  Candidates,  financing,  151. 
Effect  of  the  war  on  securing  of  missionary 

candidates   in    Canada,    92,    93;    in    the 

United  States,  94-96. 
Endicott,  J.,  discussion,  89,  107. 
Evangelistic'Missions,  48. 


Failure  of  new  missionaries,  46. 

Findings  of  Conference  on  Missionary 
Candidates,  committee  report,  9-12; 
members,  12. 

Findings  of  Board  of  Missionary  Prepara- 
tion, use  of,  78-85. 

Frost,  H.  P.,  the  China  Inland  Mission's 
method  of  dealing  with  its  candidate, 
158-161. 

Furlough,  missionary,  42,  43. 

G 

Good,  J.  I.,  discussion,  89. 

Goucher,  J.  F.,  importance  of  Candidate 

Department,   16-19;  discussion,   27,   28, 

104,  105. 
Guidmg  the  prospective  candidate,  32-35. 


Health  of  missionaries,    47. 

Hill,  E.  M.,  discussion,  43.  44.  107,  108. 

Hunt,  Miss  H.  K.,  89. 

Huntington,  G.  B.,  use  of  findings,  reports, 
and  literature  of  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  78-82;  discussion,  26,  27,  31. 


Importance  of  Candidate  Department,  16- 

19-  ... 

Increasing  effectiveness  of  missionaries,  81, 
82. 

Industrial  establishments,  selecting  em- 
ployees, 18,  56-61. 

Inman,  S.  G.,  discussion,  55,  88,  89. 

Introductory  note,  S.  J.  Corey,  5-8. 


Japan,  need  for  men  of  modern  outlook,  49 


163 


Index 


K 

Kuglcr,  Miss,  A.  S.,  discussion,  54,  SS- 


Lamson,  Miss  K.  G.,  discussion,  41,  42. 

Language  schools,  47,160. 

Latin-America,  personality  of  candidates, 

55-  .  ... 

Leaders,  selecting  and  training  of,  in 
industrial  establishments,  56-60. 

Lewis,  J.,  discussion,  los,  106. 

Literature,  of  Board  of  Missionary  Prepa- 
ration, 78-85;  suggested  for  those  in 
preparation  for  missionary  service,  138, 
139. 

Lloyd,  A.  S.,  short  term  workers,  73-76; 
discussion,  53,  77. 

Lobenstine,  E.  C.,  discussion,  54,  76,  77,  90. 

Lockwood,  W.  W.,  discussion,  44. 

Lowrey,  J.  C,  146. 

M 

Mackenzie,  W.  D.,  review  of  what  has  been 

accomplished    by    Board   of    Missionary 

Preparation,  124-130. 
Making    effective    Board    of     Missionary 

Preparation  ideals,  130-137. 
Medical  examinations,  need  of  thorough, 

39.  47.  48,  50-55;  for  foreign  missionary 

force,  141,  142. 
Medical    missions,    authorities    committee 

needed,   139-141;  sub-committee  report, 

139-142. 
Mental  disqualification,  52. 
Methods  of  secretaries,  57. 
Miscellaneous  papers,  123-162. 
Missionaries,     new     (Chart),     154;      men 

(Chart),     1-55;     women    (Chart),     156; 

total,  157. 
Missionary    Research    Library,    3d    page 

cover. 

N 

Nanking  Language  School,  47. 

Need  for  appointment  of  Committee  of 
Medical  Authorities  to  supervise  medical 
work  of  Boards  of  Foreign  Missions, 
139-142. 

O 

Organization  of  Candidate  Department,  9, 

19-26. 
Orient,  need  of  psychopathic  qualifications, 

52-55. 


Padelford,  F.  W.,  discussion,  121,  122. 
Papers,  addresses,  and  discussion,  16-122; 

miscellaneous,  123-162. 
Patton,  C.  H.,  selection  of  candidates  for 

specified  positions  in  the  mission  field, 

68-73;  discussion,  28,  77. 
Peabody,  Mrs.  H.  W.,  women  candidates 

and  the  war,  96-100. 
Personnel  of  Conference,  13,  I4._ 
Physical  qualifications   of  candidates,   47, 

50-53. 
Place   of   special   training   schools   in   the 

training  of  candidates,  85-91. 
Preparation  for  foreign  missionary  service, 

54;  literature,  138,  139- 
Prescott,  Miss  N.  G.,  discussion,  30,  31. 
Processes  of  candidate  selection,  40. 
Program  of  Candidate  Conference,  56. 
Psychological  tests  in  industrial  establish- 
ments, 57. 

Q 


Qualification  of  candidates,  standard  of,  9. 


B 

Reaching  and  training  men  in  Army  and 
Navy  for  missionary  service,  111-122. 

Reed,  O.,  discussion,  41,  104. 

Relation  of  Candidate  Department  to 
candidates,  32-45. 

Religious  experience,  desirability,  53. 

Responsibility,  of  boards  in  securing  quali- 
fied candidates,  101-103;  of  secretaries, 
55. 

Results,  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation, 
124-130. 

Review  of  what  has  been  accomplished  by 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  124- 
130. 

S 

Sailer,  T.  H.  P.,  discussion,  90,  91. 
Sanders,  F.  K.,  discussion,  26,  42,  43,  45, 

82-84,  91. 
Sarvis,  G.  W.,  selection  of  candidates  from 

point  of   view  of   missionaries   in   field, 

46-50;  discussion,  53,  54,  76,  89. 
Schools  for  training  of  candidates,  9,  131, 

132,  134.  149. 
Securing  candidates,   co-operation   in,    11; 

better     prepared     candidates,     80,     81; 

effect  of  war  on,  92-96;  responsibility  of 

boards,  101-103. 
Selection    of    candidates,    10,    35-41;    for 

special   positions    on   the   mission    field, 

68-72;  from  point  of  view  of  missionary 

on  field,  44,  46-55;  from  point  of  view 

of   student    volunteer   at   home,   61-68; 

processes  of,  40;  the  health  factor,  47, 

SO,    51;   the   mental   factor,    52-54;    the 

psychic  and  social  factor,  53,  54. 
Selection  and  training  of  leaders,  in  indus- 
trial  establishments,   44,   56-60;   in   the 

army,  60. 
Short  cut  preparation,  54. 
Short  term_  workers,  73-76. 
Special  training  schools  for  candidates,  85- 

91. 
Specialization,  42,  54,  66,  69-70. 
Speer,  R.  E.,  reaching  and  training  men  in 

the  Army  and  Navy  for  mission  service, 

111-122. 
Soldiers  and  sailors,  reaching  and  training 

for  missionary  service,  105,  111-122. 
Standards  for  candidates,  9,  131,  132,  134, 

149. 
Stephenson,  F.   C.,  effect  of  the  war  on 

securing      missionary      candidates      in 

Canada,  92,  93. 
Student  Volunteer  Movement,  11,  61-68; 

144  et  sqq.;  distinctive  work  of,  108,  109; 

value  of  influence,  37. 
Sunday  Schools  and  candidates,  41. 
Super,  P.,  selecting  and  training  leaders  in 

industrial   establishments,    56-60. 
Supervised  training,  64. 
Supply  of  candidates,  103,  104. 

T 

Training  of  candidates,  10,  11,  55.  64,  73, 
149,  150;  place  of  special  training  schools, 
85-91;  schools  for,  88-01.  132,  133.  150, 
151;  schools  on  the  field,  90._ 

Training  of  leaders  in  industrial  establish- 
ments,   56-60. 

Turner,  F.  P.,  can  ideals  of  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation  as  to  preparation  of 
candidates  be  made  effective?  1307137; 
missionary  candidates  and  candidate 
secretaries,  142-153;  selection  of  candi- 
dates from  the  point  of  view  of  student 
volunteers  at  home,  61-68;  discussion, 
42,  84,  108-110. 


164 


Index 

U  and   women   candidates,   96-100;   effect 

of,  on  securing  of  candidates,  92-96. 
Union  Movements  on  the  Field,  104,  105.  War  Work  Council,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  29. 

United  States,  effect  of  the  war  on  securing        Watson,  C.  R.,  effect  of  the  war  on  securing 
missionary  candidates,  94-96.  missionary    candidates    in    the     United 

Use  of  findings,  reports,  and  literature  of  States,  94-96;  discussion,  29,  30. 

Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  78-85.        White,   S.,    11;  organization  and   adminis- 
tration of  candidate  department,  19-26; 
V  discussion,  28,  29,  43,  107. 

Williams,  J.  E.,  discussion,  55. 
Vaughan,  J.   G.,  need  for  appointment  of        Women  candidates,  and  the  war,  96-100; 
Committee    of    Medical    Authorities    to  training,  88,  89. 

supervise    medical    work    of    Boards    of       Woman's  movement,  69. 
Foreign   Missions,   139-142;  selection  of        Workers,  short  term,  73-76. 
candidates  from   point   of  view  of   mis- 
sionaries on  field,  50.  Y 
Vocational  Council,  27. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  securing  workers  for  overseas, 
W  29-30,    41 ;    changes    in    secretaries    of, 

58-59;  soldiers  and  sailors  for  missionary 
War,   conditions   and   candidates,    11,    12;  service,  112  et  sqq. 


165 


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of  organization.    25  cents. 

The  First  and  Second  Annual  Reports 
(1911,  1912).  A  few  copies  bound  ir 
one  volume.  Valuable  for  completing 
sets.     50  cents. 

The  Third  Report  (1913).  Rich  in  sugges- 
tions concerning  the  special  training 
which  evangelistic,  educational,  medical, 
and  women  missionaries  should  seek. 
It  also  contains  a  report  on  the  use  of 
the  missionary  furlough,  a  Ust  of  the 
institutions  which  offer  special  courses 
for  candidates  and  suggestions  of  valu- 
able courses  of  reading.     26  cents. 

The  Fourth  Report  (1914).  Containing 
reports  on  preparation  for  different 
fields,  such  as  China,  Japan,  India, 
Latin  America,  the  Near  East  and  Pagan 
Africa.  It  also  includes  full  reports  of 
the  two  important  Conferences  on  Prep- 
aration of  Ordained  Missionaries  and 
Administrative  Problems.     60  cents. 

The  Fifth  Report  (1916).  Including  the 
reports  of  the  two  important  Conferences 
on  Preparation  of  Women  for  Foreign 
Service  and  Preparation  of  Medical 
Missionaries.     50  cents. 

The  Sixth  Report  (1916).  Containing,  be- 
sides the  report  of  the  Annual  Meeting, 
the  full  report  of  the  important  Confer- 
ence on  Educational  Preparation.  50 
cents. 

The  Seventh  Report  (1917).  Containing 
the  minutes  and  proceedings  of  the  An- 
nual Meeting.     26  cents. 


The    Preparation    of    Ordained    MisaionarieB.- 
10  cts. 


Educational  Misaion- 
Medical  Misaionariea. 
Wcfmen     for     Foreign 


The    Preparation    of 
aries.     10  cts. 

The    Preparation    of 
10  cts. 

The     Preparation     of 
Servace.     10  cts. 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  Appointed 
to  Latin  America.     10  cts. 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  Appointed 
to  the  Near  East.     10  cts. 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  Appointed 
to  Pagan  Africa.     10  cts. 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  Appointed 
to  China.     10  cts. 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  Appointed 
to  India.     10  Cts. 

The  Preparation  of  Missionaries  Appointed 
to  Japan.     10  cts. 

The  Presentation  of  Christianity  in  Confu- 
cian Lands.     60  cts. 

The  Presentation  of  Christianity  to  Hindus. 
60  cts. 

The  Presentation  of  Christianity  to  Moslems. . 
50  cts. 

The  Report  of  a  Conference  on  the  Prepara- 
tion of  Women  for  Foreign  Missionary 
Service.     25  cts. 

The  Report  of  Conference  on  the  Preparation 
of  Medical  Mis-sionaries.     26  cts. 

Conference  on  Preparation  of  Ordaine<j 
sionaries.     26  cts. 


m 


Orders  should  be  addressed  to 

Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel,  25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York 


